Never Stop Looking
by Sad-Blue-Eyed-Angel 2010
Summary: Alan was kidnapped as a small child. As he grew, he got passed around through the foster care system. He has no idea that he is the missing son of billionaire Jeff Tracy. At 11 years old, he can't help but feel like something is missing. Oklahoma by Billy Gillman was the inspiration of the this story.
1. My Name is Alan

'_My name is Alan. It's just Alan; unfortunately I have no real last name. According to my papers in the foster care system my last name is Doe. So I guess my name is Alan Doe. Right now I live at the local church. The pastor likes to take in children who have no homes so he can try to offer them a stable home life._

_ I am still relatively new here. I was taken away from my parents when I was 6. I have no memory of my life at any time since before I was 5. As sad as that is, I am glad I was taken from my parents. They scared me. My mom was nice for the most part, but she wouldn't ever let me go outside by myself. The first time I was caught outside, my dad lost control of his temper and started to hit my mom. I panicked and called the cops. The police took me and my brother away from them, and we were separated after being put into the foster system. One thing I never understood was what my older brother Devon told me. Apparently I was purchased. Devon said we were not true siblings because he had been purchased as well._

_ Over the years I was passed around between 18 foster families. I've never stayed in one place for very long. The families that took me in couldn't ever seem to deal with my temper. It can get quite explosive, at least when the right button is pushed. I was told by my case worker that I am what's considered a 'special case'. Because of my track record, I have started to be refused into possibly being placed in a new foster home. I have been told that the pastor has graciously offered me a home with him and his other foster children. All of us are considered 'special cases' because we were all abused at one point in our lives. I am the newest member in a family of 6. That makes me the 7__th__ member in the family. I have been here for about 5 months. I don't expect that I will stay here for very long though._

_ In the short months since my stay with the pastor began I have turned 11 years old and I made a new friend. His school had some kids volunteer at the rec center and his name is Fermat. He attends a school for boys and chose here of all places to volunteer for his class project. After meeting him, he made it a point to ask the headmaster if I could come up and visit every so often and sit in on some of the classes. Fermat is two years younger than I am, but he is a genius. I consider myself quite smart, but then I have been mostly home schooled due to being moved around in the foster system._

_ One of the last meetings before summer break, Fermat had an older boy with him. The older boy introduced himself as John. Apparently he stands in as a guardian for Fermat. Fermat wanted to say goodbye before he left for summer and had his guardian bring him to the rec center. For some odd reason John kept staring at me, like he knew me…but I would swear to you I didn't know him. I thought it was odd that we kind of shared features, but it's not all that odd to share the same eye and hair color. It happens. _

_Before John and Fermat left, John insisted on taking a photo of Fermat and I together for the class project, since Fermat and I were tutoring the younger kids. I was tutoring to help out the pastor, while Fermat was tutoring for the class project. _

_When Fermat and I stood together I gave my best smile. My case manager called it my million watt smile. I was truly happy when I got to hang out with Fermat, so this was my true smile. I began giving Fermat a noogie in the photo, as a joke and then we went off to go play with the younger children. I taught Fermat how to be a referee, and I played basketball with the younger children. John just stood off to the side watching me play with the younger kids. It seemed odd that he was watching me so closely, but for some reason I felt like I had met him somewhere before. When I stopped to take a break, Fermat, John and I walked around the track. It just felt right to be with John and Fermat.'_

TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB

"Alan may I ask you a question?" John was looking at the little blonde boy with a curious expression.

"Shoot." Alan kind of had the faintest feeling that the question was going to be related to how long he had been in the foster system.

"What's your last name?" John asked Alan probably the strangest question the boy had ever heard. The tiny blonde looked at John and grinned.

"It's Doe."

"Doe? As in a deer?" John looked puzzled by Alan's strange last name.

"Yeah, it is not my real last name, but that is the surname the foster system gave me. I'm afraid I don't know what my real last name is. I'm told I suffered amnesia after a car accident when I was 5, so that would explain why I don't remember, not only that but I refuse to take the last name of my bastard dad and mom." Alan sighed in slight frustration as he finished his short explanation.

"Hey, watch the language. You're only 11; do you even know what the word bastard means?" John was shocked that the boy just swore.

"Yeah. It refers to a person who was born out of wedlock. But can also be used in reference to a severely disliked person or group of people." Alan crossed his arms as he walked. He wasn't sorry for swearing. It was true. He personally felt that those people he had called mom and dad were legitimate bastards.

"Okay, changing the subject. I hope you don't mind my asking, but could you answer me how you got into the foster system? I would understand if you would prefer not to answer the question." John's gaze shifted from Alan to the ground.

"I was placed in the foster system when I was 6. Devon…my brother decided to take me outside against our mom's wishes and our dad found out. He lost his temper one night when he was drunk, and began to beat our mom. After he beat her to death, he came after Devon and I. I panicked and Devon made me grab the phone. Then Devon fought dad while I took off to the attic. When I locked myself in, I called the police. They arrested our dad for murder and child abuse. Then the police contacted child protective services and had me placed in the foster system. Devon was 15 so he had himself emancipated. Since then I have been placed with several families, but none have ever worked out. I begged Devon to adopt me, but CPS said because we were not biological brothers, and because he was still considered a minor we would have to wait. I lost contact with Devon after being moved around so many times. So I have lived in many different states and with many families."

Alan paused in his explanation of why he was in the foster system. The tiny blonde could feel the anger and hurt welling up inside him. He hated his dad. '_I don't even have a clear memory where I actually liked him. Just thinking about my first memory of him makes me want to puke. I hate him with a passion. My mom hadn't wanted me because I was a small child not a baby like she wanted. Devon cared for me mostly._ Alan took a deep breath before continuing in his explanation.

"To be honest…I would always prefer the foster system over living with my mom and dad any day. They fought all the time and it always seemed to be about me. I guess my mom never wanted me, she said she had wanted a baby to raise…not a small child and my dad insisted that they keep me. He kept insisting that one day I would remember who they were. The first memory I have of him is dreadful and I wish I could erase it from my mind. But I can't. I have a vague memory of some older boys, but past that I don't remember anything past the age of 5. Whenever I asked my mom or dad about who the older boys were, they just said that they were a group of boys that had been killed in the same car accident I had been in, the one that caused the apparent amnesia."

"C-can you d-describe the o-older boys?" Fermat chimed in.

"It would be easier if I showed you. I don't really remember the sharp details, but I am told that I'm quite talented when it comes to sketching. It's been my outlet to keep my temper under control. I have a couple sketches in my room that I could show you." Alan shrugged before motioning with his head for John and Fermat to follow him.

"Sure, I would like to see them. Lead the way Alan." John waved his hand and Alan took the lead. '_I feel so comfortable being around John and Fermat. I wonder why_.' Turning around Alan gazed at John and felt confused by the look of sadness in his cerulean eyes.

"Hey, John. Since I bared my soul for you and Fermat, would you care to explain why you look sad? Before you ask, I am good a reading people's emotions. I can see in your eyes that something in your life has not been pleasant and if you don't mind explaining I wouldn't mind listening." Alan realized that the question he'd asked would be considered rude, but he didn't care.

"You got that right. I lost my mom when I was about 10-11 years old to an avalanche and almost lost my baby brother that day, he was 3 at the time. Then when he was 5 my baby brother was kidnapped right out from under our noses. We never found him. It broke everybody's heart. He was the glue that held our family together after the death of my mom." Alan watched John's eyes come to life as he described his baby brother. The tiny blonde felt a longing build up in his chest. _'I wish I had brothers, but being in the foster system doesn't provide that kind of luxury.'_ "My baby brother coincidentally shares the same name as you and would be about your age now. He was so cute. He had blond hair and bright blue eyes. I still miss him to this day."

"I would give anything to have a real brother to look up to as my hero or a dad that I would be proud to call my dad. Sometimes I even wish I had a mother that truly loved me and had not just kept me because she was obligated to. It's probably really nice to have had a real brother. Devon told me that we weren't true. He said that we were both bought."

I paused when I realized that a gasp had sounded in our small group. I turned slightly to see the sympathetic gaze on John's face. I had never really kept it a secret that I had been purchased. The foster system found out from Devon that apparently our mom and dad paid top dollar for me. As I looked at John, I noticed tears gathering in his eyes. My eyes widened when I felt myself being pulled into a firm embrace. I blushed at first, but then I relaxed. It felt so right to be hugged by John. I briefly wondered if this is what it was like to have a biological older brother to look up to.

"I am so sorry you had to deal with that Alan. I would die if that ever happened to me. But how did you find out you had been bought?" I felt John's shoulders shaking like he had been fighting tears at my expense. I felt tears gather in my eyes when I realized I was causing him pain. Instantly I felt nothing but guilt.

"Devon told me after we locked ourselves in the attic. When our parents were fighting I asked him why dad was so mad and he just said that the man was not our dad he was just Ray and neither was the woman our mom. When I asked for further details later on in the attic he said the night I came to live with them; a tall tan man came to the door carrying a medium sized burlap sack. According to Devon, the man was none to gentle with the apparent person 'me'. Because Devon said he dumped the bag on the floor and that I fell out. Our parents exchanged almost one million dollars for me. Devon said he knew the amount because Judy our mom made him count it for punishment."

"To this day I don't have any idea why they wanted to spend so much for me. But my first memory after waking up was seeing my dad strangling the tan man. Devon said Ray had printed out counterfeit bills to purchase me, and when the man tried to take me back our dad snapped and strangled him. Devon hid me in a trick door within his closet to keep me from dad's wrath. Devon took the entire attack which had been reserved for me."

I realized that we had stopped in front of my bedroom. It wasn't very big, but it was what I considered home. As I opened the door, I watched John and Fermat's eyes widen. I looked around and spotted the mural I had painted. I designed my own bedroom and got the pastor's permission to make it look like a planetarium. I have always enjoyed stargazing…they just seemed to calm me down. Not only that, but I discovered that I found my inspiration to draw when I was under the stars. I grabbed an old sketchbook from my shelf and flipped through some of my drawings. I caught John gazing at my drawings and blushed. The drawings weren't anything big in particular, just bowls of fruit or people strolling in the park. Some drawings of foster siblings I'd had in previous years. I found the sketch I was looking for and passed my sketchbook off to John and Fermat. I went over to one of my other book shelves and grabbed my newest sketchbook and a lead pencil.

When I turned around, I looked at John and found he again had tears swimming in his eyes. He was still gazing at the picture of the four older boys. They weren't much older than me, but I couldn't place them. Fermat looked at me with a stunned look. By that time, John was able to school his features, he complimented me on my drawing and when I tried to downplay the compliment he proceeded to say he knew a good drawing when he saw one. Apparently his younger brother Virgil was an exceptional artist. I offered to give him a copy of the drawing if he wanted to show it to his brother the artist. He accepted graciously. Then for some reason, I was unable to control my motor mouth and blabbed the word I had wanted to call him since I met him.

"Thanks bro. I appreciate the compliment. It is not often that I am told my drawings are very good." I blushed when I realized what I said and hurriedly began to apologize. He brushed off the apology and said he didn't mind being called bro. He wouldn't even mind being called Johnny. I felt like I had met a kindred spirit.

What surprised me next was John's question. He asked if I wanted to see a picture of his baby brother, the one that had been kidnapped. I accepted but told him only if he felt comfortable doing so. My eyes widened when the picture was of a cute little blond boy being held in the arms of a man. The man was kneeling on the ground and had his head resting on the little boy's shoulder. I couldn't help but to feel envious of the little boy and the man with him. It was quite obvious that they had been very happy at one time. I was puzzled by how familiar the boy looked. He looked like me! At John's question as to why I was confused, I strolled over and grabbed a small photo album and found a picture of when I was just put in the foster system. When we compared pictures, you could definitely see the resemblance.

That is when it came time for John and Fermat to leave. I felt sad. I had just spent the whole day with my two newest friends. Right before John and Fermat left though, John suggested we get a picture together. I asked the pastor and he took a picture of John and I together then another one of Fermat and I. Then John suggested a group picture. John and Fermat on the outside edges with me sandwiched in the middle. I started laughing when somebody nudged their elbow into my ribs. I couldn't help it that I had ticklish ribs. After they left, I couldn't help but feel like I would see John again one day. It felt like it would be one day very soon. I hoped to see him again to be perfectly honest. I felt like I could look up to him as an older brother figure. Now I was wishing that I had been born into a family like John's where everyone was loved. It made me so envious of something I had never been privileged enough to experience. With that thought, I ran to go help the pastor start dinner. It happened to be my night for cooking the evening's meal, and I was looking forward to it.


	2. Renewed Hope

It was quiet on Tracy Island. Jeff was almost unsettled. It had been so quiet since that time. Tomorrow was the 6 year anniversary of when the youngest Tracy had been abducted, never to be heard from again. It broke Jeff's heart that they had been unable to find any kind of trace whether Alan was alive or dead. Jeff sat at his desk in his office and gazed longingly at the photograph that had been taken on the little boy's 5th birthday. But what unsettled him the most was how happy John seemed. He was almost excited when he returned with Fermat three days prior.

Jeff walked out of his study and trekked to his second oldest son's bedroom. When he found John skimming the internet, it certainly raised a red flag for him. John was checking a missing and exploited children web database. He pulled up the profile that had been created on Alan. A gasp was heard from John's desk as he found an apparent clue into what he was madly searching for. Jeff stepped into the room, and noticed John changed the screen to a news page archive. Jeff walked up and stood behind John and gazed over his shoulder. The patriarch spotted the name of the man who had changed his life forever. Emilio Rizzoli. He had taken Alan while he and his sons had a picnic. Alan had been put down for his nap, and Jeff was unable to do anything when Emilio had held a gun up to his baby's head. The man had come within range and took the slumbering child from his father's arms after decapitating him.

When the patriarch saw the words body found, he felt his heart clench. Why had they not been notified that Alan's body had been discovered? The date of death was marked for 6 years earlier though. Jeff tapped John on the shoulder to gain his attention. When John spun around slowly, the concerned father found tears swimming in John's eyes. Jeff knew that the kidnapping of John's baby brother had hurt. He just wished they could have been able to lay him to rest properly, instead of burying a picture of him. Jeff's eye brows wrinkled when he saw a smile grace the face of his second oldest through the tears.

"What's going on John?" Jeff asked. He was truly puzzled. First John was crying, and then he was smiling. He wondered if his son had broken mentally from the guilt and stress of not being able to recover his little brother. The answer that replied shocked Jeff.

"I think I may have found Allie dad."

Jeff just stared at his son with his mouth gaping open. Jeff sat quickly on John's bed as he felt his legs give out from under him. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Had his son really just lost his mind?

"What?" Jeff was stumped. John appeared sane. So he couldn't really be suffering from a mental breakdown could he?

"Do you remember when I took Fermat to the rec center at the local church? Fermat wanted to say goodbye for the summer to a friend he had made during the class project. I have reason to believe that boy may be Alan. Our Alan." Apparently John felt the need to explain, due to the puzzled glance that was on his father's face. Jeff was now very concerned about his son's mental wellbeing.

"Fermat introduced me to his friend Alan Doe. Alan is in the foster system. He refused his 'parents' last name because they scared him, so CPS gave him the last name Doe. Alan told me and Fermat that he has no memory of his life before he was 5 years old. But he did say that his 'brother' Devon had informed him he had been purchased by his 'parents' from a tall tan man whom was later found to be murdered by Alan's 'dad' six years ago. I just found the coroner's report on how Rizzoli was killed. The COD was strangulation. Alan said that was his first memory of his 'dad' Ray. It was Ray strangling Rizzoli."

Jeff gaped open mouthed at his son. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Was there really a chance that his son was alive? But he had been sold? Jeff focused a hard stare on the younger male. This would not be easy. Especially if it turned out to be a false lead, it could only lead to disappointment.

"What made you believe that Alan Doe was our Alan? The name? I don't want you to become disappointed if this turns out to be a fruitless search."

"The first clue was a sketch that Alan had given me. He drew a memory he had always had and it was of 4 older boys. The second was this facial recognition software I installed a few hours ago."

John opened a folder and pulled out a piece of sketch paper that had no doubt come from Alan. He handed it to his father and Jeff looked at it. His breath caught in his throat. The drawing showed Jeff's four oldest sons at the age they were when Alan had been taken. Looking at John questioningly; John pulled out another piece of paper, except this was a picture. When he handed it to Jeff, the patriarch felt tears spring to his eyes.

It was the picture of John and Alan standing together. The Alan in the photograph so closely matched the features that Jeff remembered of his baby boy. The photographed Alan had Lucy's smile and Jeff's blue eyes. John and Alan shared the blond hair at varying shades and tones, while they both had the Tracy blue eyes and Lucy's smile.

"I ran the picture I have of Alan as a small child through a facial program. It can do age progression as well as facial recognition. When I used the picture of Alan as a small child and did the age progression, I see a total duplicate of the boy I met at the rec center." John manipulated the buttons to begin the age progression and Jeff watched the little boy on the screen grow from a 5 year old to an 11 year old. Looking back down at the picture in his hands Jeff could only describe himself as feeling blown away. Alan the boy at the rec center was a carbon copy of what Jeff's Alan would look like. The patriarch bit his lip to keep from crying.

"Then I did a facial recognition to see if there were any differences in our Alan's facial structure compared to the rec center's Alan. What blew me away was that I got a 99.9 percent chance of a positive ID. The only thing I would like to do now is contact Alan's current foster father to find out if he can give permission to have Alan tested for a paternity test. If his foster father agrees then Alan would give a small sample of blood for blood typing and would give a buccal swab to be tested as would you and we see if that is a biological match. I am keeping my fingers crossed that he agrees to have it done. If you don't have a problem with it I could go to the mainland with Virgil to go see Alan and get the blood sample if the pastor agrees."

Jeff sat in stunned silence. Was it really possible that his long lost son was really found? Jeff turned his gaze to his son John. Both shared a look that looked something akin to elation and excitement.

"No son. I think it should be just you who should go. We don't want to get everybody's hopes up in the event of this not being your brother. When do you plan on going?"

"Well, I asked Fermat for the contact information to the rec center. When I called, I was patched through to the pastor's office. He wasn't in, but the voicemail said he would call back before he closed for the day if the caller left contact information. I left a message that he call me as soon as he got the voicemail because I had a request for him. If I get permission from the pastor for the paternity test then I will contact the police and have them reopen the missing person's case. Then I will contact CPS after receiving the test results to see about getting Alan out of the foster system and back into our family if he is in fact our Alan." Jeff sat in silence for a moment before he smiled and patted John on the shoulder and stood to leave. Jeff sucked in a breath when John launched himself into his father's arms.

"I know that this is our Allie. When I met him, we had so much in common it was scary. I knew that one day mom would answer our prayers and bring him back to us. But I started to give up hope." John whispered to his father.

"I know son. But to be honest, I had already given up hope. It has been almost seven years since we last saw him. I am afraid to see you and the other boys hurt. That is why I don't want to give any of your brothers the idea that we may have found him until we are positive it is him. Good job though. If this is your brother, we all will be forever in your debt for not giving up on finding him." As Jeff and John broke their embrace, the phone by John's desk began to ring.

"I'm on it dad. I love you." John turned away as he answered the phone.

"I will leave you to everything else John. I pray that this is real. I love you too son." Jeff said with a lopsided grin.

"This is John Tracy speaking. How may I help you?"

Jeff walked towards the door. Opening John's bedroom door, Jeff turned back to look at his son. It appeared that John was listening to the speaker on the other line. As Jeff stepped out in the hall, he heard the first words of a conversation he hoped would bring good news to them all.

"I am calling in regards to one of your foster son's Alan Doe." With that sentence in the air, Jeff turned to walk back to his office. He sent up a silent prayer to his dearly departed wife Lucy in hopes that she would renew his faith in finding his youngest son.

TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB

A brunette with graying hair and green eyes sat in his office cradling the phone to his ear. "Hello Mr. Tracy. My name is Pastor Franklin Woods, and I am returning your call that you left earlier this afternoon. What can I help you with?"

"Hello Pastor Woods. Please call me John, Mr. Tracy is my father. Thank you for returning my call at such short notice, I only called about 15 minutes ago."

"No trouble son. I am normally supposed to be here in my office, but I had to help one of my foster sons break up a fight between two of my younger rec center members. Little boys sure do have a lot of boundless energy." After a lengthy pause, Pastor Woods continued in his conversation. "So what can I help you with today son? Are there any services that I may be able to provide to you?" A quick inhale of breath could be heard before the man known as John began to speak.

"Yes, actually there is something you can do for me Pastor Woods. I am calling in regards to one of your foster son's…an Alan Doe."

"Ah yes, Alan. So what questions do you have regarding my newest foster son?" Pastor Woods grinned. He was quite pleased with Alan. He was a very responsible young man and polite for the most part. John became puzzled by the words "newest".

"Newest? I was under the impression that he has been living under your care for quite some time." Pastor Woods's eyebrow rose at the implied question from John.

"No son. I have only just acquired Alan 5 months ago. He had been living with some of the other boys in our local orphanage." Pastor Woods regarded the curious tone as he spoke to John.

"Well, okay. Pastor Woods I was wondering since you are his current foster father, if you would be keen to providing permission to have a paternity test run on Alan Doe. I have reason to believe that he may be my biological little brother. You see my little brother was kidnapped 6 years ago, and when I met Alan the other day, he…he just reminded me so much of my little brother and he showed me a drawing. It was of four boys not much older than him. The four boys in the drawing are myself and my other three brothers." John asked.

"So he showed you that drawing? That is not the only drawing of the four boys he has made, but all the others he keeps hidden. But a paternity test? I don't doubt that he might be your brother, but he was taken away from his mom and dad when he was but a small child. Only one other child had been found on the premises and he has since been emancipated. Neither of the boys was related by blood. I am afraid I am going to need more proof than the drawing or the fact that you have a missing brother the same age as Alan. I need to be sure that my foster son is possibly your brother before I provide permission."

"I figured as such Pastor Woods. I received your contact information from the boy Fermat who volunteered at your Rec center. I have sent you an email with the necessary information regarding my missing younger brother. I plan on reopening the missing person's case for my family."

"Yes, I just received your email. Let me get Alan's file so that I may compare the necessary information. May I call you back with my decision in say the next 20 to 30 minutes?"

"That will be fine Pastor. I will await your call."

As Pastor Woods hung up the phone, he opened the email he had just received from John Tracy. A web link was the first thing he saw, and it was a URL to the missing and exploited children website. In the profile on Alan Tracy, there was an age progression photo done by the authorities. As Pastor Woods looked at the photo he was able to see a resemblance in his foster son and Alan Tracy. The eye and hair color matched, the DOB was the same. Pastor Woods looked through the information and he could now see why this John fellow was looking to gain permission for a paternity test. Feeling he had enough information, he hit redial on his phone. He heard a ring once, twice before the phone was answered by the same young man he had just previously been talking to.

"Okay John. I am willing to give permission to have my foster son tested. But as you are not his father, how are you going to give a blood sample? Is your father available to give such a thing?" Pastor Woods was now curious about why the supposed brother was calling and not the father.

"I would be bringing a blood sample from my father. He knows that I am currently searching for my younger brother and has agreed to give a sample if you agreed on Alan's behalf. We could meet at your local clinic and we could get the test conducted. My father and I are trying to keep this hidden from my other brothers so as to not evoke too much excitement in the event that this turns out to be nothing."

"Well, would tomorrow work? I am supposed to be having a scheduled meeting with Alan's case worker in which we take him in for his monthly doctor check-up. The foster system likes to make sure their wards are healthy enough to remain in their placed homes. We could meet at the rec center next door to my home and go to the doctor together if that works for you."

"Yeah that would be excellent. What time would you like me to show up?"

"Well Alan's case worker is due to show up tomorrow at noon. She always prefers to show up when the kids are just getting their lunches so that she may observe their eating habits to make sure that what they are eating is healthy. So maybe you should be here at ten. My wife will just be preparing lunch for the younger kids and maybe you could interact with Alan before the case worker shows up. To be honest, I think Alan has a new hero. He has done nothing but talk about you since Fermat introduced you two the other day. So this might be a very welcomed surprise."

A blush filled John's face. Was Alan really looking at him as hero material? A smile soon replaced the flushed skin. "I think that would be an excellent idea Pastor Woods. So I will see you tomorrow then at ten. I look forward to the visit." John didn't hear the knock at his door, nor did he hear someone open the door. He felt a hand on his shoulder after he hung up the phone.

"So where are you going tomorrow and why? You do know what day it is tomorrow right?" John schooled his features before he turned his head slightly to see his irritated older brother Scott. John had somehow expected a reaction like this, but couldn't let himself feel down. He felt that he was about to make a breakthrough.

"I am going to go visit someone. Dad suggested that I get out tomorrow, because of how depressed I get on the anniversary of Alan's kidnapping. So I am going to go visit a new friend I made a few days ago and his family. It will only be for a few hours then I'll be back on the island."

"So, you are going to go try to forget the pain that we have all been going through for the past six years to hang out with a new friend?! How dare you! Are you trying to forget our baby? Our baby brother?! I hope you have fun tomorrow while the rest of us are mourning for him!" Scott spat out the words with enough venom that John could perceive the hurt Scott was currently displaying.

John stood up from his desk, and leveled a look at his older brother. "I may be going to go visit a friend tomorrow, but I am not doing it for fun. I asked my new friend to spend the day with me because they know how depressed I get. For your information, he is a pastor! I am going primarily to make myself useful again. He is going to help me to get over my guilt at not having protected Allie well enough! It will only be for a few hours then I will be home again!"

John side stepped around his older brother and left his bedroom. He was going to his father's office to let him know of the development in the plan he deemed to be named as Operation: Rescue and Recover. Knocking on the office door, he stepped in when he heard his father's reply of come in.

Upon opening the door, John was greeted to a look on his father's face that he hadn't seen in quite some time. The look was hopeful. When John stepped in with good news, the two men formulated a plan to tell Virgil about why they needed him to draw a sample of Jeff's blood. Jeff smiled when John told him that he would get to spend a few hours with Alan. John promised his dad that he would talk more openly about his younger brother to Alan in hopes of helping the boy to recover any memories that he may have of his early childhood.


	3. Our Guest

As the sun broke over the horizon, John hurriedly got out of bed. He was so excited about the prospect of getting to see Alan again that he almost hadn't gotten to sleep the night prior. Checking the time, he found that it was 6:30 am. '_Right on schedule'_. John got dressed before heading downstairs to the kitchen. He had always been the early riser in the family, so he knew he would be long gone before any of his brothers awoke. John was surprised when he walked into the kitchen to see his dad sitting up with a mug of coffee.

"Dad, what are you doing up at this hour? You know I am going to be leaving in a little bit." John said as he placed a couple pieces of bread in the toaster. John felt too excited to eat anything real big.

"Yeah I know. But I figured it would work out that I was up when you left so if any of your brothers asked questions I could tell them what you and I concocted." Jeff eyed the pieces of heated bread and mug of coffee that John was consuming. "Is that all your eating?"

"Yeah, I feel too nerved up. I just want to be there right now, so that the nervous jitters would subside. I looked up how long it would take to get the results back on the test and it would be maybe 2 weeks. So the sooner this is taken care of, the sooner we will know." John ran his fingers through his platinum blonde hair as he sat at the table with his light breakfast.

The father and son joked lightly as they sat at the table. Looking at the clock, they both gave each other identical apprehensive looks. As John stood, he was pulled into a tight embrace from his dad. Tears gathered in John's eyes. He prayed that his gut feeling about Alan Doe was right and that this boy was their Alan. Jeff leaned back from the hug and peered into his son's eyes. They were so much like his own and yet so much like his mother's.

"I'd better get going. I wouldn't want to be late for this appointment. Wish me luck okay dad?" John smiled hopefully.

"Okay son, I will give you clearance for take-off. Please call me as soon as you arrive though." Jeff patted John on the shoulder before walking out with him to the silo that housed Tracy 1.

TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB

Pastor Franklin Woods walked around his quiet home. He had to make sure all of the kids were awake, and couldn't seem to find Alan or Sally. Sally was a toddler and had been with the pastor for a year now. Alan could usually be found in his bedroom drawing in the early morning and the Pastor was puzzled when he found that Alan's bed was made and door standing open. A knowing smile crossed Pastor Wood's face when he heard giggling come from the kitchen.

Making his way down the stairs, he was greeted with Alan trying to feed Sally her breakfast. The two year old was giggling at the noises Alan was making to make eating breakfast more fun. He was holding a small spoonful of honey squares up to Sally's mouth and was making airplane noises. The toddler accepted the cereal with a smile and bounced in her high chair as she chewed. It was a joyful sight to see. Not many of his foster children liked the youngsters. Alan seemed to be the only one who paid close attention to his younger 'sister'.

"Good morning Alan, same to you Sally. How are you two this morning?" Pastor Woods asked. Alan turned his blue eyed gaze towards the pastor and smiled when he saw his newest foster father. Alan liked him over the other foster parents because he was nice and made time for all his foster children.

"I am just fine sir. Sally got a little hungry and came to my room for some breakfast, I hope you don't mind that I fed her some of my cereal. I'm afraid I don't know how to make her microwave oatmeal, and I didn't want to wake you up." Alan replied. Pastor Woods always thought that Alan always calling him sir was odd, but soon thought nothing of it.

"That is just fine Alan. If she is eating it, then that must mean that is what she wanted. You did a good job. Not even a mess. Normally everybody else just leaves spilt milk or cereal scattered around the kitchen. So it is kind of nice to see that you two were quite tidy during breakfast. Have you eaten yet?" The pastor inquired to his newest charge. Alan had always been able to wolf down his food. No matter how much was put on his plate, Alan always seemed hungry. The pastor just chalked it up to Alan having a fast metabolism since he was a growing 11 year old boy.

"No sir. I wanted to feed Sally before the other kids came down. You know how fussy she can get when there is too much activity going on. I will eat after I take my shower and get dressed. See you in a few minutes sir." Alan lifted Sally out of her high chair and placed her on the floor. She normally enjoyed playing with her toys after breakfast. After making sure Sally had her favorite doll, Alan ran up the stairs to his bedroom. He knew he was meeting with his case worker and going to the doctor today. It was a usual occurrence for him. He wanted to look his best so that the case worker wouldn't admonish his newest foster dad. Since being placed with him and the other kids, Alan had felt he was better able to control his temper, primarily because Pastor Woods and his wife encouraged him to draw when he felt frustrated, or sad. Mrs. Woods was his homeschool teacher. He liked her; she was very sweet and would take the time to help Alan more in depth with his math homework if he struggled.

Pastor Woods watched Alan run upstairs before turning back to Sally. She was still in her pajamas and the pastor wanted her dressed before the case worker showed up. He walked over and picked her up and carried her to her room across the hall from Alan's room. The pastor could hear the water in the shower running proving that Alan was in fact in the shower. Stepping into Sally's room, the pastor selected an outfit for the rough and tumble little girl before setting to work on getting her dressed for the day.

TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB

Alan stood under the shower water with his eyes closed. He loved the feeling of a warm shower. It chased away the chill from the early morning and the jitters of meeting with the case worker. This house was unlike so many others. It actually had proper heating for the inhabitants. Alan's last home he lived in, he was forced to take ice cold showers every morning. The family he lived with couldn't afford a new water heater so they bathed in cold water. If you wanted a warm bath, you had to get dear old foster mom to fill a pot and put it on the stove, of course half the time his old foster mom and dad could care less. All they cared about was their booze.

Alan rotated around and grabbed his lavender shampoo. He didn't care if it smelled floral, he liked its smell. It seemed to remind him of being held close in loving arms. Being rocked slowly and having sweet words of comfort whispered in his ear. It gave him a sense of peace any time he smelled lavender. After rinsing the shampoo from his blond locks, Alan turned off the water. Grabbing his towel he wrapped it around his frame. Stepping from the bathtub, Alan found himself drawn into a memory.

_ A little blonde boy ran around being chased by another boy who had appeared to be a strawberry blonde. Both boys were giggling uncontrollably and ran up to three other boys. The little blonde boy ran to a boy who appeared to be 15. Launching himself into the 15 year old boy's arms, the little blonde soon found himself lying flat on the ground being tickled in the ribs by the four older boys._

_"Stop it Scotty! It tickles!" The little blonde boy squealed loudly while giggling. _

_ "Sorry Sprout, I won't stop until you yell uncle! Get him!" At the 15 year old boy's insistence, the three other boys tickled the tiny blonde unmercifully._

_ "Okay boys! Stop tickling your brother or you'll have to take him to the bathroom again. He is bound to wet himself from the tickle torture." A man came walking over and picked up the little blonde and placed him on his shoulder. Walking over, he sat on a picnic blanket. The man fed the young child a peanut butter sandwich and some carrot sticks for lunch. Then the child crawled into the man's lap and whispered "I love you daddy" before falling asleep in the man's arms._

Alan shook his head to clear the mental fog that had come with the apparent memory. Stooping to put on his socks, Alan quickly got dressed. It seemed he only day dreamed for a few minutes, he was still okay to run down and eat breakfast. As he descended the stairs, he could hear one of his older foster brothers talking. Jeremiah was always a bit loud. He was 16 and liked to holler at Stacy from another room. Stacy who is 14 was apparently in the dining room and was helping Pastor Woods set the table for breakfast. Alan liked Stacy okay, but she called him twerp. He preferred being called twerp over loser though. Jeremiah and his twin brother Jeffery both called him loser.

When Alan stepped into the kitchen, he found a glass of orange juice dumped over his head. His eyes burned from the juice and he looked down at the outfit he was going to wear. His white t-shirt had an unpleasant orange stain as well as his khaki shorts. Growling, he redirected his gaze at Jeffery, the culprit who was holding the empty glass. Jeremiah laughed loudly before calling Alan a loser again and walking out of the kitchen. Mrs. Woods hurried over with a damp rag to wipe the orange juice out of Alan's eyes. She apologized profusely for how the boys acted. Alan just tuned her out, and turned to run back up to take another shower. This was a normal occurrence unfortunately. It didn't mean that he liked it, but no matter what the twins were threatened with they still would dump food items over his head, and call him a loser.

Slamming his bedroom door, Alan stripped out of his soiled shirt before grabbing another set of clean clothes. Alan stepped into his bathroom to run through the shower again before hurriedly dressing. As he made his way back downstairs, Alan rounded the corner and found Mrs. Woods preparing a bowl of cereal for him. Alan smiled and hurried to the table to eat. After finishing his breakfast, Alan went up to his bedroom to grab his sketchbook. He glanced at the clock; it was 9:30 am. He had about another 3 in a half hours before the case worker showed up. He figured he could get in some opportune drawing.

After grabbing his sketchbook, Alan decided to go outside on the patio to draw. He watched Stacy walk around carrying Sally on her hip, and started to draw them. Stacy was pointing out flowers to Sally, and Alan wanted to capture the emotion. He preferred charcoal drawings over colored, so he utilized his light and dark charcoal pencils. Before long he was absorbed in his drawing, and didn't notice anybody approaching until his sketchbook was snatched from his hands. Looking up in anger, he found none other than Jeffery and Jeremiah.

"Oh, looky here Jeffy, looks like the loser has a crush on Stacy!" Jeremiah said whilst laughing loudly.

"I do not! I was using Stacy and Sally as my subjects! Give me back my sketchbook!" Alan yelled in irritation.

"Right loser! If you want your precious sketchbook back you are gonna have to catch us first!" Jeffery said before taking off at a run with Jeremiah following closely. The two older boys ran around the front of the house, and Alan gave chase with a low growl.

"Give it back!" Alan ran after them and ran right past an older man walking up the sidewalk to the house.

"Keep up loser!" Jeremiah hollered back.

"That sketchbook is mine!" Alan yelled back. He was embarrassed, because he had dropped his guard. Normally he can sense when the twin terrors are coming, but he didn't…not today.

When he finally caught up with the older boys, he started jumping up and down trying to get his sketchbook. The two taller boys kept raising their hands up and playing keep away. At one point Jeremiah started flipping through the sketchbook and before Alan knew it, he had ripped a drawing from its spiral nest.

"Oh well, well. Looks like you have a hero worship. The Thunderbirds? You know they don't exist. They are just a group of people that the media likes to make seem like they actually save lives. Grow up loser!" Jeremiah taunted the ever increasing distressed Alan.

Alan felt tears well up in his eyes as Jeremiah ripped up his drawing and sprinkled the drawing scraps over his head. He had worked so hard on the drawing and now it was ruined. His eyes were downcast as he fought against the tears that began to leak from his blue eyes. Something hit his head and fell to the ground with a low thud. Alan dropped to his knees and began to gather the shreds of paper. The drawing of the Thunderbirds was something he had taken almost six hours on to get all the details ironed out. Alan found his sketchbook lying on the ground beside him, and he grabbed it so he could pile up what was once his drawing. Soon another set of hands was helping him pick up the scraps of paper. He looked up and was surprised to see none other than John kneeling beside him.

"Hey kid, why the long face?" John asked with genuine concern.

"The twin terrors ripped up my drawing. It took me a long time to complete, and they just ripped it up." Alan murmured sadly before turning his gaze away from John and sniffed.

"Well, we can get some tape and put it back together. I am sure we can make it look close to how it used to look." John tried to be optimistic. He was saddened that Alan was upset over having his foster brothers destroy one of his works of art.

"No, it's ruined. The twin terrors always pick on me, and half the time makes it to where the damage can't be changed. This is not the first time they have ripped up one of my drawings, but it still doesn't make it hurt any less." Alan spoke softly.

"If we are able to tape it back together, may I keep it? Then you can make a new drawing." John tried to cheer up Alan. He hasn't known the boy for very long, but can't help but to feel bad for the kid.

"I guess. I am going to need to make another anyway in order to replace the ruined one."

"Well then let's go." John said with a smile.

"I can't right now. I need to stay here. My case worker will be here to take me to the doctor in a few hours and sir has told me to be on my best behavior." Alan said. He seemed disappointed that he would be unable to hang around John for the day.

John and Alan looked up when they heard the front door open. There standing in the door way was a smiling Pastor Woods holding Jeremiah and Jeffery by the shell of their ears. He gazed at the tearful Alan and his smile quickly fell into a frown. He redirected his gaze at the boys Alan had dubbed the "twin terrors".

"Apologize for making your brother cry. I know I have taught you two better than to treat your siblings like this. You two have lived under my roof since you were old enough to understand that putting your nose in the corner was punishment." Pastor Woods looked legitimately irritated by his two foster sons.

"Sorry loser." Jeremiah said with a mocking tone. He yelped when he felt a tight pinch to the shell of his ear.

"His name is not loser, it is Alan. Use the name that was given to him at birth." Pastor Woods said. His voice had dropped to a disapproving tone.

"Okay! I'm sorry for ripping up your drawing Alan." Jeremiah squeaked out.

"Apologize to him too Jeffery. You both are responsible for making him cry." Pastor Woods looked at the other twin terror.

"I'm sorry Alan. I didn't mean to make you feel bad for ripping up your drawing and playing keep away with your sketchbook. It was just a joke that crossed the line." Jeffery looked at Alan. He could now see how bad he and his brother had made Alan feel. Tears were streaming down Alan's face as he held his hand over the pieces of shredded paper.

"I expect better of you two. Alan is only 11 years old and is more responsible than you two combined and you two are 16. He takes care of Sally and helps Stacy and Amanda cook dinner and wash the dishes. I am ashamed that you two would act this way and in front of a guest. You two are grounded until further notice. Go up to your rooms and think about what you have done. Am I understood?"

"Yes sir." With that the two boys ran upstairs. John just stood there with his hand on Alan's shoulder. Pastor Woods turned to the two standing out near the front of the porch. He stepped out and knelt before the tearful boy. Placing his hand on his shoulder, he made direct eye contact with the child. Pastor Woods decided to remind the child of a quote he had always taught to his foster children.

"Alan. Please remind me what your favorite bible verse was. I would like to hear it, and I am sure our guest would too."

Alan nodded his head softly before speaking his favorite bible verse. "You are young, but don't let any person treat you like you are not important." Pastor Woods smiled as he joined Alan in to the verse quotation after the first sentence was said. "Be an example to show the believers how they should live. Show them with the things you say, with the way you live, with your love, with your faith, and with your pure life."

John stood by silently. He couldn't believe that he had just heard this little boy quote the bible. He and his family didn't really go to church because of how far from the mainland they lived. They prayed and all, but he had not heard a bible quote sound so innocent before.

"Thank you Alan. Please accept my apology on behalf of your brothers. I know they can be cruel sometimes. They have always been pranksters, but I do believe they crossed the line by destroying one of your drawings."

"It's okay, I guess. I will just need to make a new one." Alan looked down at his feet.

"Well, why don't you and John here come on in and work on patching up your old drawing. I know it has been damaged, but I overheard John offer to help you fix it. Would you like that? You two can sit in the lounge and work on it." Pastor Woods said.

"But I thought John came by to visit you. You referred to him as a guest, and normally guests are people you or Mrs. Woods invited over." Alan seemed truly puzzled.

"I did invite him over. But I did so, because he is primarily your guest. You have not stopped talking about him since you met him, and I figured that with your developing friendship that it would be okay to invite him over for lunch and to spend a few hours with you today." Pastor Woods grinned at his newest foster son.

"Thank you, sir. I would very much appreciate spending time with John. Thank you for inviting him over on my behalf." Alan beamed at his foster father. Pastor Woods ruffled Alan's hair before standing to shake hands with John. Seeing the man up close face to face, Pastor Woods could now see a resemblance between the two. The pastor turned to the door, and held it open for his foster son and guest allowing them to enter the house. Alan led the way to the lounge, and when they arrived they sat at the table with a tape dispenser. Together, the two pieced back together the jig saw puzzle of pieces. John inhaled sharply as the image became something familiar to him.


	4. Be Your Brother

The drawing was a picture of the International Rescue operatives standing together. It was one of the rare photographs that photographers got of the IR operatives standing together after a rescue. Below each IR operative sat their titles: Commander and Operatives 1, 2 and 3. Their faces were obscured by their full helmets, but you could see by the drawing that the operatives were proud. John smiled before turning to the boy who sat beside him.

"This drawing is very good. I like the intricate detail that you added to their uniforms." Alan blushed at the compliment before shrugging his shoulders.

"It's nothing. It's just a drawing." Alan refused to look at his new friend because of how red his face was from the compliment.

"If I showed this to my little brother he would croak. You remember me telling you about my younger brother Virgil the artist don't you?" John tilted his head to the side softly. He could see that Alan was embarrassed. Virgil acted the same way when receiving a compliment for one of his pieces of art.

"Yeah, I remember. What did he think of the other drawing I gave you? Did he like it or not?" John grimaced slightly before schooling his features. He hadn't actually shown the picture to Virgil, because he didn't want to disappoint the kid if this turned out to be a fluke.

"He loved it. He wouldn't quit talking about the attention to detail. He was amazed by your drawing and that is saying something. Virg is an artist, but his area of expertise is primarily landscapes. He can draw people, but drawing your brothers and father doesn't always work out." John stretched the truth slightly. He kind of used his dad's reaction to the drawing rather than those of his brothers.

"Well, drawing people is my favorite thing to do. I like to capture the emotion and I find that going into detail with their hair or eye color or clothing style is relaxing." Alan again blushed when he openly admitted what his drawing method was.

"How long did it take you to draw this? Judging on the amount of detail you added to their uniforms and helmets, it must have taken hours." John was amazed that an 11 year old could draw to this caliber.

"About 6 hours." Alan gazed down at his feet when he realized that it would take him another 6 hours to recreate the drawing.

"6 hours? That is fast isn't it?" John was floored. When Virgil drew or painted it would often take him days.

"Well, yeah. But I did this entirely in charcoal. I don't like to add color to my charcoal drawings. Not only that but I wasn't feeling well when I drew this." Alan glowered as he said the last part.

"Were you sick?" John's eyebrows knit together in concern at the thought of Alan being sick.

"No, I broke my ankle the first month I got here and I was laid up in the hospital. The twin terrors caused me to fall from the tree house out back and the doctor wanted me to be admitted to the hospital until the pain medications wore off." Alan seemed content to remember the incident. The twin terrors as Alan called them must have received a huge punishment for causing harm to the boy.

"Did you have surgery? Or was it just a fracture?" John eyes were wide with concern.

Alan leaned down and lifted up his pant leg, before lowering his sock. There on his ankle was a scar from an incision. "I had to have surgery. Sir and Mrs. Woods covered the cost of the surgery and therapy. I had to have 2 pins placed in. It hurt, but thankfully it healed quickly. Now I can run around like I used to, before I got hurt."

Alan and John sat in the lounge chatting for over an hour. At 11:30 Mrs. Woods called for lunch. Pastor Woods walked in and asked John to join them for lunch. Alan was excited that John was joining them. When they sat down, John took the seat between Alan and Pastor Woods at their insistence. As the last members of the family sat down, Pastor Woods looked at Alan before asking him to say grace. Alan nodded his head and everybody joined hands. John was confused. Pastor Woods had offered his hand and Alan did the same. John accepted the proffered hands and bowed his head in prayer.

"To our heavenly father, please bless this food that we are about to eat. We are thankful for the meal we are about to receive and for the hands that prepared this bountiful meal. We will use the food to nourish not only our bodies, but our head, heart and soul. We ask for your blessing in our daily meal. In Christ's name we pray. Amen."

"Thank you for the prayer son. God is smiling upon you for your blessing of the food." Slowly everybody began to pass the platters around. John watched Alan pile up shrimp salad, chips, and two hotdogs onto his plate. John's eyes widened when he saw how much Alan was eating as compared to everybody else…himself included. Pastor Woods must have noticed John's look of surprise because he started laughing before managing to speak.

"Don't look so surprised John. Alan may be thin, but he is somehow able to pack away the food. Amanda and I just don't know where he puts it all. But playing with the kids at the rec center must stir up quite the appetite, because Alan has always eaten like this."

"It just surprised me that a boy as young as Alan has such an appetite. He reminds me of my younger brother Gordon. If it wasn't for our cook Onaha, I am pretty sure Gordon would starve. He isn't much of a cook, but he sure eats a lot. There are rarely any leftovers at our house. If there are, Gordon chows on that until Onaha comes up with another masterpiece."

"You have a cook? Like a private chef?" Stacy asked curiously.

"Well, kind of. She is employed by my father as a housekeeper and cook, but she and her family live with us. She has a daughter about Alan's age and her husband. We have a rather large house, so my dad wanted to fill up the empty space. The volunteer Fermat that introduced Alan and I also lives there with his dad. His dad is also employed by my dad." John ticked off the number of people living with him at the villa.

"How many people live in your home?" Pastor Woods was surprised that employees would live with their employer and bring their family. John closed his eyes as he began to name the members of the household.

"Besides myself there is my dad, older brother Scott, my two younger brothers Virgil and Gordon, Brains, his son Fermat, Onaha, her husband Kyrano and their daughter Tin-Tin. So we have a grand total of 10 people living at our house." When John opened his eyes, he saw six sets of eyes that were openly gawking at him.

"That's a lot of people. Doesn't it get crowded?" Alan had a look of genuine curiosity on his face.

John grinned. He could almost see the mental image filling Alan's mind of a 1 story house with 3 bedrooms. "No, we live in a villa. My dad runs his company from home and likes to keep his employees within a close distance. So he offered them a place to stay, so they could be close to work, but could bring their families."

Alan's eyes grew as big as saucers. He had never seen a villa before. He had always seen pictures in books he had gotten from the library, but never has he seen one up close. He hoped to see a villa one day, so he could inspect the intricate details. An artist's eye never rests.

The conversation carried on in full tilt and before long, lunch was coming to an end. Alan's case worker had yet to show up, and just because the woman was late it seemed that things felt they could go south. It wasn't long until Sally became fussy and knocked over her little cup of milk, which unfortunately landed in Alan's lap. As Alan jumped up, Sally began throwing shrimp salad around in the middle of a full blown temper tantrum. A portion of Sally's shrimp salad splattered across Alan's face and got in his hair. Tears gathered in Alan's eyes again as Stacy, Jeremiah and Jeffery began laughing loudly.

"Alan!" Pastor Woods yelled as Alan ran from the kitchen ducking his head in embarrassment. John looked on as the boy he thought might be his little brother ran upstairs. Mrs. Woods worked on calming down the fuming Sally and Pastor Woods asked John to go see if Alan was okay, before turning to admonish the older three.

As John made his way upstairs, he stopped…trying to remember where Alan's room would be. He hadn't paid close attention when Alan had brought him and Fermat up a few days prior. He guessed the room Alan was in, it was the only one on the landing with a door closed. As John approached the door, he could hear sniffles and sobs. He knocked lightly to see if he could get a response from the boy.

"Go…away!" John's heart broke at the cries of his supposed brother. He opened the door quietly and poked his head in the door. His eyes widened when he saw Alan on the floor leaned against the edge of the bed with his knees pulled to his chest. The boy was still wearing the milk and shrimp salad soiled clothes.

"Alan, it's only me. May I come in?" John spoke in a gentle tone so as to not further upset the child.

"I guess." At Alan's half-hearted reply quickly followed by another sniffle, John entered the room and gently shut the door behind him. Approaching the boy, John knelt down and sat beside the kid. Sitting in silence, John observed the room whilst Alan cried. John didn't know if he should comfort the boy in the same manner he had for his brothers when they were younger. Deciding he would give it a shot, John placed his arm around Alan's quivering shoulders.

"Hey, it's okay. What's got you so upset?" John smiled gently then dropped his smile to a slight frown.

"It's embarrassing." Alan whimpered not lifting his head from the shelter of his arms.

"What is? A little food fight?" John tried to remain upbeat about the situation.

"No, needing another shower. This will be my third one in less than 4 hours. Earlier the twin terrors dumped orange juice on my head right after I got out of the shower, so I had to take another and now I need to wash the shrimp and mayonnaise out of my hair. If I am not appropriately clean before the social worker gets here then Sir and Mrs. Woods will get chewed out for not being able to properly control us. I don't want them to get in trouble, but…"

"But what? Alan? Come on you can tell me. I'm your friend remember?" John tried gently coaxing the answer out of the boy. Alan grabbed the sides of his head and dug his fingers tightly into his hair as tears began coursing down his face.

"But sometimes I wish I knew who my real family was! I just know that Devon was right, that Judy and Ray were not my real mom and dad. I want older brothers; I want to know the bonds that real siblings get to share much like Jeremiah and Jeffery. I want a dad to hold me and tell me he is proud to call me his son, and I wish I could know a mom's love. But I have been in the foster system for so long and been passed from family to family. I don't know if I can take another move across the countryside to live with another temporary family. There have been 18 families that I have lived with in the past with this one being the 19th. I want a real home to call my own, I want a bed and belongings that are mine and mine alone that I won't have to leave behind or pack up to move to another location. I feel so lost!"

John felt tears gather in his eyes at the boy's anguish. He pulled Alan into his arms and the boy leaned his head into John's chest and cried. Barely able to contain his sobs, Alan gulped for breaths. John grabbed a couple tissues from Alan's small desk besides Alan's bed and used them to dry Alan's tears. He whispered soft words of comfort to the distraught boy. When Alan's cries quieted to hiccups and sniffles, Alan leaned back. John grinned slightly when he could see Alan's eyes had become red and puffy, and his nose had begun running from crying so hard. Being a big brother he had dealt with what Scott referred to as "snot nosed little brothers", he held the tissue in one hand and gently gripped Alan's nose before telling him to blow his nose. He smiled as Alan humored his gentle command.

'Sorry." Alan murmured with a blush crossing his cheeks.

"Don't worry about it. I'm use to comforting my younger brothers. I had to do it a lot when we were younger. You would be surprised how many times I dealt with crying siblings. I have even comforted my older brother Scott, especially when my baby brother was kidnapped." John replied softly.

"How did you get through it?" Alan gave John a look that made John feel as though he was looking at his deceased mom.

"I didn't. I'm still not over it. I'm still searching for my baby brother. My dad closed the case, five years ago; but I am reopening it. I will never stop looking for my baby brother until I find him. No matter how long it takes." John had a determined look on his face.

"It must be nice. Your baby brother is lucky to have a big brother like you. As far as I can tell, my real family hasn't looked for me since I was purchased. I've thought that maybe they just don't know where to look, but I fear they may have given up hope that I would be found. This may sound weird, but I actually wouldn't have minded being born into a family similar to yours."

"Well if you don't mind, I could always be your big brother. Close friends often refer to each other as siblings, so you could be my little brother and I could be your big brother. How does that sound?" John offered in hopes that if the test revealed that Alan really was his brother, that it would make the transition for Alan having biological siblings real.

"I would like that very much. Having a big brother would make me feel like I actually have a family." Alan blushed as he accepted John's offer to be 'brothers'. Alan noticed John glance briefly at his watch face.

"Deal. Well Sprout, you should probably be getting cleaned up. It is almost 12:30 and your case worker should be showing up here if she is not already here." John grinned lightly at using the nickname for his baby brother on Alan. It felt right to call Alan Doe 'Sprout'.

"Sprout? Why did you call me that?" Alan was puzzled.

"Yeah, Sprout is what my brothers and I called our baby brother. My older brother Scott's nickname is Scooter, mine is Astro-nut, my little brother Virgil is Picasso, and Gordon is Fish-Feet." John chuckled at the smile that broke out on Alan's face at the goofy nicknames the brothers had.

"Scooter, Astro-nut, Picasso and Fish-Feet? Why such funny nicknames?"

"Scott is called 'Scooter' because when he was a baby he would scoot around the house in his walker. I'm Astro-nut because I am obsessed with the stars and outer space in general. Virgil is 'Picasso'. We call him that because he is an artist. And Gordon is 'Fish-Feet' because he spends most of his available time in the pool. We call him our family's resident fish. So I will call you Sprout, because you are still growing and will eventually sprout up in height." John smiled at the pleased look on Alan's face at being given a new nickname.

"I like being called Sprout over my other nicknames. The other ones are mean, and I don't like them. But Sprout actually holds a significant meaning." Alan smiled gently.

"That's good to hear. But like I said Sprout, you should be getting in the shower to wash the shrimp and mayonnaise out of your hair before it dries. Trust me it won't be pleasant trying to run a comb through mayonnaise thickened hair. I have tried it before." John blushed at his admittance.

"Why were you trying to comb mayonnaise through your hair? It always makes everything so slimy." Alan asked with a lopsided grin.

"Not by choice. My little brother Gordon is quite the prankster and he switched my new bottle of shampoo, with a used bottle of shampoo. Only the used bottle had been filled with mayonnaise. Trust me; washing it out was the longest, most painstaking process ever. It took me 5 showers and almost a whole bottle of shampoo to finally get all the mayonnaise out of my hair." At that, John found Alan curling into himself laughing uncontrollably. John couldn't help but to join in on the laughter. It pleased John immensely to be able to cheer up his 'honorary' little brother.

John stood so as to speed up Alan getting in the shower. John was going to go downstairs to let Pastor Woods know that he managed to calm down Alan and hopefully to talk to Alan's case worker about why he would be attending the doctor's appointment with the Pastor and Alan. John was keeping his fingers crossed that it went off without a hitch.

Before John left, Alan stood and crossed his room to his closet. Opening the door, Alan was greeted with what Alan deemed to be yet another cruel prank set up by the twin terrors. A bunch of books had been stacked precariously blocking Alan's clothing. When Alan had opened his closet door, the books fell on him. Unfortunately the corner edge of one of the books caught him above the eye and with the trajectory it fell, it cut the boy's eyebrow. Lying under a pile of books, all Alan could manage to say was a weak "ow". John freaked out and dropped to his knees before throwing the books off the boy as quickly but gently as he could.


	5. Sudden Flashbacks

It barely registered to either John or Alan that there were heavy footsteps running up the stairs. When Alan's bedroom door swung open, Alan managed to resurface from his makeshift book grave. Alan placed a hand over his left eye. His face hurt, and he would swear to you that someone had cut him with a pocketknife. A pair of gentle hands gripped his face and another pair of hands removed his hand from in front of his eye. Two soft masculine and one feminine gasps echoed in the room. When Alan tried to open his eye, he found he was unable to. It hurt to open his eye, and he opened the other to try to figure out who was in his room with him. A loud voice answered who one of the occupants was.

"Jeremiah! Jeffery! Get in here now!" Pastor Woods hollered practically at the top of his lungs. Alan shrunk away from the Pastor and began shivering. Curling into himself, Alan began to whimper. A pair of arms enveloped him in a gentle hug. Not even chancing a glance up, Alan retreated into himself. Alan would default back on what his case worker often referred to as an escape mechanism. Alan was vaguely aware of a loud voice yelling, slowly becoming increasingly tinny. With the yelling in the present beginning to fade, a new voice interrupted the boy's thoughts.

"_What are you? A complete and total idiot? How dare you allow Alan to go outside?"_

"_I'm sorry Ray! It won't happen again! I was cooking dinner when Devon took Alan outside!" The sound of skin meeting skin in a sharp snap could be heard in the house. A piercing scream echoed throughout the house. _

"_He is not even my son! How can you expect me to care for him? I wanted a baby not some bastard child! If anyone is the idiot, it is obviously you!" A loud thud could be heard along with the sounds of shattering glass._

_A small blue-eyed blonde child stood around the corner, peeking into the room his 'parents' were occupying. He began to quiver when he saw his 'mommy' sit up from the floor and wipe blood from her nose before she stood and swung her fist at his 'daddy'. A warm hand gently gripped the little boy's shoulder. Blue eyes looked back at the hand then followed the arm up to a pair of brown eyes._

"_Von, why is daddy hurting mommy?" The quiet curious voice of a child broke the quiet in the room where the boys were at. Both boys were standing in the door way watching their 'parents' fight. Both were covered in blood, both shouting at the tops of their lungs._

"_He's not our dad. His name is Ray." Devon murmured to his little 'brother'._

"_Then why is Ray hurting mommy?" Concerned blue eyes continued to watch the violence in the next room. Both boys stood stock still for fear of turning Ray's fury on either of themselves._

"_She is not mom either. She is just Judy." Brown eyes persistently watched the fight a few feet away._

_Devon had made a promise to himself when Alan had been brought to this place that he would protect the boy at all costs. The child was so innocent and had no way of knowing that Ray had quite the volatile temper, especially after he had been drinking. The first night when Alan came to live with them, Devon had slipped some counterfeit bills in with the real money that would be used to purchase Alan. _

_That was not the first time Devon had seen Ray's temper and protected the little boy accordingly. Now it would be Alan's turn to protect them. The screaming in the next room stopped. Both boys turned their gaze back towards the living room and found the limp body of Judy lying deathly still on the ground. Ray stood over her and was still shaking with uncontrolled rage. He looked around before spotting his next two targets._

"_Run! I'll distract him! Go up to the attic and listen for our secret knock. I'll be right behind you. Take the phone and run! Please Alan!" Brown eyes looked directly into teary blue eyes and the boy nodded._

_A shouting match ensued as Alan took the phone from the kitchen and ran up to the attic. Making it to the landing, the little boy pushed the door shut and locked it. This attic was the boy's sanctuary. It was where they would go whenever their 'mom' and 'dad' would fight. Alan curled up in a ball as he cried. Devon had always told him that if anybody should ever raise a hand and try to hit either him or Devon that they were to call the police immediately. Looking at the phone, Alan pressed the numbers that Devon showed him to press only in emergency. Placing the phone to his ear, Alan tried to ignore the shouting that was escalating, as well as the sounds similar to the noises made when 'mommy' and 'daddy' fought. Alan struggled to control his breathing._

"_911 emergencies: Please state your concern." A nice lady spoke on the other end of the phone._

"_Um, my mommy and daddy got into a fight and mommy isn't moving anymore." Alan replied._

"_Honey, are you hurt?" The nice lady had a tone of concern in her voice._

"_No, Devon made me hide. He and daddy are fighting now. I'm scared." Alan curled up in the corner of the attic._

"_I know you are honey, can you tell me where you live so that I can send the police?" The nice lady kept talking, in an effort to calm the distraught child._

"_On the corner of Central park. I live in the 1__st__ floor apartment by the Laundromat." Alan began to shiver. He couldn't hear Devon or his daddy yelling anymore._

"_Okay honey; please stay on the line with me. Can you tell if your daddy and brother are still fighting?" The nice lady had been quiet for a while, and it began to scare Alan that she left him. Then she spoke, reassuring Alan she was still with him. _

"_No, they're not. It's quiet." Tears started coursing down the child's face. He hiccupped as he cried, trying to remain calm and failing quickly._

"_How old are you sweetheart?" The nice lady changed the subject. She could hear the distress in the child's voice._

"_I'm six. I just turned six a month ago." Alan sniffled as he spoke to the nice lady. He sat in total silence until he heard a series of knocks that only he recognized as his and Devon's code. They made it up, and their 'mom' and 'dad' didn't know what it was. _

"_I think Devon is back. He just knocked on the door of my hiding place." Tears continued to leak from Alan's eyes._

"_Do not open the door, unless you are positive it is your brother. The police should be arriving there any minute." The nice lady warned. Alan crawled over to the door and looked through the tiny hand-made peephole. Seeing Devon standing outside, Alan hurried to open the door and let Devon in for shelter._

"_It's Devon." Alan said in a relieved voice._

"_I hear sirens, Alan. Did you call the police like I taught you?" Devon gave Alan a pained grin and a tight hug. He had cuts and bruises all over, but it was worth the pain to protect Alan._

"_Yeah Devon. They should be here soon." Alan looked at his bloodied older 'brother'._

"_Good" Was Devon's reply._

A gentle rocking re-awoke Alan from the inner recesses of his mind. As he came out of his fear filled memory, he became aware of soft whispering voices telling him it would all be okay. Raising his head, Alan quickly became aware of Mrs. Wood's gentle hazel eyes gazing into his blue eyes. She was wiping his face with a damp wash cloth to wash away sweat and tears. Alan then became aware of being crushed into a strong chest and being held there by equally strong arms. Titling his head back, Alan looked up into the worried face of John. Except the only difference was John had scratches on his face.

"What happened?" Alan slowly became aware that he was feeling sore.

"Thank goodness dear. You really gave us a scare." Mrs. Woods murmured softly.

"You had another episode Alan." A new voice entered the room.

Three sets of eyes looked up. However Alan had to force himself to focus on the woman standing in his doorway with one eye as he was still unable to open his other eye.

"Has there been any shouting recently, anything that might have triggered this episode?" the unknown voice asked a serious question that left no room for getting out of answering.

"Well, my husband was giving two of our other foster sons the third degree, because a prank they played hurt Alan." Mrs. Woods looked embarrassed.

A woman standing in the doorway of Alan's bedroom walked in to kneel beside Mrs. Woods to look at the quivering child being held in John's arms. When the woman leaned in close to Alan, the boy shrunk back further into John's arms. Anxious blue eyes stared back at the woman. Alan whimpered and turned his head to hide his face in John's chest. The boy did anything to get away from the prying eyes.

"Hey Sprout. You're okay. Take a few deep breaths." John murmured in Alan's ear. John became aware of the tightening grip on his t-shirt. Glancing down, he spotted Alan's right fist clutching at the fabric. John moved one of his hands from Alan's shoulder and began carding his fingers through the boy's blond hair in an effort to calm the boy from his panic attack. Before long, John noticed the quivering stopped and the breathing evened out. Alan had fallen asleep in John's embrace with his head resting on his shoulder.

"It would appear that you have dealt with panic attacks before, am I right Mr.?" The woman gazed at the small form that was clutching at the older male regardless of being asleep.

"Tracy, John Tracy. Please call me John. In answer to your question, yes I have dealt with panic attacks before. I and my brothers are all prone to them, so we all had to learn ways to calm each other when in the throes of an attack. I'm sorry; I didn't catch your name." John directed his gaze at the woman who appeared to be in her late thirties or early forties. For a middle aged woman, she was very easy on the eyes. Brown eyes and tan skin with dark mahogany colored hair pulled back in a loose bun.

"Oh yes, my name is Courtney Alexander. I am Alan's case worker." Courtney extended her hand and shook John's hand in pleasant introduction.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Ms. Alexander." John replied. Ms. Alexander turned her gaze towards Mrs. Woods. Standing up, she lent a hand to the woman before helping her up.

"So Amanda, care to explain what happened that led to Franklin having to yell at Jeffery and Jeremiah?" Ms. Alexander leveled a fretful look at Alan's foster mother.

"The twins have been picking on Alan all day, and it would appear they made him upset earlier. Following a pleasant lunch time, Sally began to throw a temper tantrum and covered Alan in her shrimp salad. She also knocked over her glass of milk into Alan's lap. The twins and Stacy began mocking him and he ran up here crying. John offered to come up and talk to Alan, and after a while Franklin and I heard Alan yell followed by a loud crash. When Franklin and I ran upstairs, we found John pulling Alan from under that large pile of books. Alan's eye had already begun to swell, and before long he was in the middle of an attack. He became combative out of nowhere when I tried to pull Alan away from John. He scratched John across the face and bit my arm then began screaming at the top of his lungs."

John sat in stunned silence. He was afraid to speak out for fear of reminding Ms. Alexander and Mrs. Woods of his presence. He gazed down at the little boy in his arms. Tears were still streaming down Alan's face in small rivulets. It had scared him when Alan had thrown his head back and began screaming "that he was a good boy, and to please not hurt him." It took all of John's control to not hug the hysterical child. Then Alan began fighting back against anyone who was touching him.

Alan had scratched John's face. John had tightened his grip around Alan's arms in an effort to restrain him. Then Alan began to bite. He had bitten Mrs. Woods and kicked his dresser so hard that his lamp toppled off and shattered on the floor. That was when John began to softly sing a lullaby that his mom had sung to him and his brothers when they were upset. It had immediately calmed the child down. John began paying closer attention to the two conversing women again.

"Hmm. It sounds like his episodes are becoming more frequent. We might want to look into having him taken in to see a child psychologist. It would appear that the memories are becoming too much for his psyche to handle."

"Yes, unfortunately. But thanks to John we were able to calm Alan's attack to something manageable." Mrs. Woods gazed back at John with eyes filled with gratitude.

The three occupants looked down at the slumbering child. He still clung to John. John smiled as he plucked a piece of shrimp salad out of Alan's hair. Both women chuckled at John's action. It was about that time, that Alan began to stir.

"Hey Sprout. You awake?" John whispered to Alan. A single sleepy blue eye looked up at John, before a tired grin filled Alan's face.

"Mm-hmm." Alan murmured before he sat up and rubbed at his only opened eye. He looked around the room, and a look of alarm crossed his face as he noticed the huge pile of books laying on his floor, and his case worker standing in the middle of his bedroom with his foster mom talking quietly.

"Hello dear. It's nice to see you awake." Ms. Alexander spoke in a gentle voice to Alan so as to not alarm him more than he already was.

"What happened? Did I have another attack?" Alan gazed sadly at his knees. He was aware of a warm hand resting on his upper back. Turning his head, he found John leaning forward. It was John's hand on Alan's upper back, rubbing soothing circles.

"Yes sweetheart. I am afraid you did. Are you okay?" Alan refused to meet John's gaze or Ms. Alexander's. He was feeling ashamed that he was unable to control his panic attacks. He didn't understand why he had them. Each time they occurred, he would always think back to the night he called the police. When Ray had killed Judy, and tried to hurt him and Devon. Alan shivered as the memory of Ray strangling the tall Tan man came to mind. Instantly feeling sick, Alan covered his mouth before jumping up and darting to his bathroom to empty the contents of his stomach.

John winced as he heard Alan retching. Neither woman made a move to go see if he was okay. John made a move to stand, but Ms. Alexander halted his movements. Turning a bewildered glance at the woman, he saw her shake her head. John opened his mouth to ask why he couldn't check on Alan, but Ms. Alexander beat him to it with her answer.

"This is his normal response which never fails to follow his panic attacks. The memories of what he encountered as a small child literally make him physically ill. But usually after he gets it all up, he is fine afterwards." Again John winced as he heard Alan continue to retch and heave. He looked at Ms. Alexander and Mrs. Woods before he spoke again.

"So you're telling me that anytime he suffers a panic attack, he throws up?" John noticed that there was silence in the bathroom. He soon heard a flushing of the toilet, before the bathroom door opened. There stood Alan, very pale and sweat beading across his forehead. Alan held onto the door frame to support himself rather than to stand on shaky legs.

"It's not the panic attacks that cause me to throw up. It's the memory, of Ray…choking the tall Tan man. Every time I remember that memory in particular I always throw up." Alan looked down at the floor ashamed. Again he had been unable to control his panic attacks and again he allowed the memory of what Ray had done on that first night to make him sick. It didn't matter if it was at the end of a panic attack or if he just remembered it. If he thought of that memory, he was bound to upchuck everything he ate. He soon felt a cool clothe being run over his face and over his mouth. Opening his eyes, he found John kneeling in front of him holding the cloth that Mrs. Woods had been using on him earlier.

"I feel bad, that you got sick. But I am glad to know that you are feeling better now." John spoke gently to Alan. Hearing John's voice, instantly quelled Alan's queasy stomach, and lifted his mood slightly.

"Yeah, I just wish I could control it. I have embarrassed myself on so many occasions, because of that blasted memory. I don't like getting sick because of something I remember that I wish I could forget." Alan blushed as he admitted to all his past 'accidents'. Alan briefly thought back on one memory in particular. It was when he spewed all over the manager at the store because the manager began yelling at Jeremiah and Jeffery for knocking over a display of wine bottles. Mrs. Woods had to do some damage control and she made Jeremiah hold a sick bag for Alan as Jeffery escorted Alan to the bathroom so he could finish with his upheaval and to clean up. Regardless of the twin terrors telling him it was okay but awesome that he got them out of trouble, Alan couldn't help but to feel embarrassment. It was not the first time he had thrown up on someone, but it was the first time it happened in a public venue.

John placed a hand on Alan's shoulder in an effort to comfort him. "It happens to the best of us Sprout. You know when I was your age; I actually suffered from motion sickness? Once I threw up all over my dad when we were getting ready to go to a birthday dinner for one of his colleagues. We were pulling into the parking lot at this restaurant and I asked my dad to pull over, because I was feeling unwell. The child-lock was enabled to keep my younger brothers in the car, and I couldn't open the door. My dad jumped out and opened the door for me, and he leaned in the car to pull me out, and I just threw up. We had to go back home, so the both of us could change, and I wound up sitting in the front seat instead of the backseat when we returned. Granted we were late, but my dad hadn't minded."

Alan grinned slightly in knowing that he was not the only one who had gotten sick in public. A woman clearing her throat broke the moment that Alan and John were sharing. Both John and Alan looked over to Ms. Alexander. She was looking at her watch, anxiously. Meeting her gaze Ms. Alexander decided to speak up.

"We are going to need to leave for your doctor's appointment in 30 minutes. Please get ready Alan, I will be downstairs waiting. Your mom already told me you need to take a shower."

"Okay Ms. Alexander. I'll be down shortly."


	6. Explanations

After Alan closed his bathroom door, John felt it was okay to leave Alan's bedroom after picking up all of Alan's books that Jeremiah and Jeffery removed from his bookshelf. He felt that the least he could do for Alan to keep him in his foster parent's good graces was to assist in helping him clean his room of the mess that was made. Making his way downstairs he heard Mrs. Woods and Ms. Alexander harshly reminding Pastor Woods not to yell around Alan. When John entered the den, Pastor Woods turned to look at him.

"Is Alan okay? I hadn't meant to lose my temper up there, but seeing Alan hurt because of a prank was the straw that broke the camel's back." John made eye contact with Pastor Woods. He knew that losing your temper was something that occasionally just happened. John nodded quietly to acknowledge Pastor Wood's inquiry. Seeing the little boy, who he believed to be his lost baby brother, was terrifying. Especially when that supposed baby brother was screaming at the top of his lungs and begging. It turned John's stomach to think about what this little boy had gone through before being placed in the foster system.

"In answer to your question Pastor, Alan is fine now. He had a pretty bad panic attack after you left with the twins, but I managed to calm him down. Alan was feeling a bit sick after he came out of the attack, but after throwing up he began to feel better. He is in the shower now." John answered, but he didn't miss the two black haired heads and one red head peeking around the corner. It would seem the twins and Stacy were feeling bad for what Alan had just endured. John turned his focus back to the Pastor as he began to speak.

"I will apologize to Alan when he comes back downstairs, I feel bad for scaring him. Will you be joining us when we take Alan to the doctor? I know you wanted to discuss the possible outcome with Alan's case worker. It might be best to do so, while Alan is in the shower." Pastor Woods motioned to John to step forward and talk to Alan's case worker.

John gulped silently as he stepped up. Having to discuss the possibility of Alan being his younger brother with the boy's case worker proved to be a very daunting task. He had his fingers crossed, that this went well. Lifting his gaze from the floor to meet Ms. Alexander's gaze, John felt a shiver run up his spine. Despite how petite Alan's case worker was, she had a very intimidating air about her.

"What is this about John?" Ms. Alexander gave a cold hard stare to the young man in his late teens to early twenties. She could see John quivering under her gaze. She always had that effect on some individuals, especially when she was in business mode.

"Well, um. Ms. Alexander, I have reason to believe that Alan Doe, upstairs might in fact be my biological little brother." John just barely managed to get the words out.

"How do you gather that?" Ms. Alexander shot a withering glance back at John. This was a first that she had encountered a possibly willing family member.

"Please allow me to start from the beginning. You see, when I was about 14 years old, my youngest brother was kidnapped at gunpoint. The kidnapper approached us when we were having a picnic at the park. He threatened to shoot my brothers and me if we called out to our father. Our dad had been putting Alan down for a nap, but he was still holding him. The man, hit my dad across the back of the head with his pistol, and when my dad loosened his grip on Alan, the guy took him right out of my dad's arms. When my dad, tried to get him back, the man held the muzzle of the pistol to Allie's temple and said he had no problem killing him. Oh, God…Alan was only five years old, but he woke up when the man took him from my father." John paused in his explanation. Tears gathered in his eyes as he explained the painful memory to the group in the den. Taking a deep breathe to ward off his own anxiety, John resumed on with his story.

"Alan began struggling. He kicked and screamed…anything to be released. But the man took off running. When my dad gave chase, the kidnapper threw Alan in a car on the curb. Jumping in the front seat, he took off. That was the last I have seen of my baby brother. It has been six long years. Today happens to be the anniversary of his kidnapping. We closed the missing person's case, because all the leads and tips we had received had been cold. But a few days ago…I was acting guardian for one of my dad's employees. I was picking up Fermat Hackenbacker from school, and he begged me to bring him to the rec center so he could say goodbye to one of his new friends for the summer. He insisted that I come in with him to meet his new friend, so I parked my rental car and went in with him."

John had sat down on the couch by this time. He hadn't expected Ms. Alexander or Mrs. Woods to sit as well. Pastor Woods sat perched on the arm rest of the love seat where his wife sat. John took notice that the twins and Stacy had entered as well. The whole explanation had so far taken less than 10 minutes.

"When I entered the rec center with Fermat, I looked around. Fermat began waving at some boy who was teaching a little girl how to dribble a basketball. After getting his attention, the boy approached us. Fermat gave him a hug, and I introduced myself to him. I was surprised when he said his name was Alan. He never mentioned what his last name was. He and Fermat began talking quite animatedly. Alan managed to rope Fermat into playing the referee for a quick game of basketball. Alan was still trying to teach some of the younger kids how to play. I stood off to the side to observe the game. As I watched Alan interact with the children, I began noticing little quirks. Quirks I have only ever noticed in my brothers. One of them was his method of calming his irritation when a minor argument occurred. Alan had almost mimicked my older brother Scott with the first quirk. As he stood listening to the two boy's disagreement, he stood up straight and folded his arms behind his back. My older brother has always stood in what we referred to as "at ease" when he was irritated. We think that is why he entered the air force. Then when the boy's disagreement became more heated and they started pushing each other, Alan attempted to break it up." He saw a bewildered look cross the face of every occupant in the room.

"One of the boys when he was pushed fell into a little girl who was walking by. She fell and began to cry. Alan quickly picked her up supporting her on his hip and began humming to her. That is my brother Virgil's quirk. His quirk is humming. After he got the little girl calm, he set her back on the ground and she ran off to play. When he turned his attention back to the younger boys, they continued their heated discussion. Then to diffuse the situation Alan began making puns. That is my brother Gordon's quirk. It is comedic relief. He was trying to get the boys to laugh, which eventually worked. Just the way he carried out the quirks, is what made me wonder if he might be my brother. Fermat pointed out the possibility because he noticed that Alan and I share some features. We are both blonde and appear to have my dad's blue eyes." John paused again to allow the family and case worker to absorb his theory before he carried on in his explanation in further detail.

"Then Alan began talking to both Fermat and I about how he got in to the foster system. He said he had a memory of some boys from before, but that he couldn't explain how they looked. He told us that he would need to show us a drawing he had made. He invited us up to his room so he could show us some drawings. When he handed me the sketchbook, I found a drawing of my older brother, myself and two younger brothers six years ago standing together. I thought there was no way. That this just happened to be a coincidence. It was then that Alan began talking about some tall Tan man. You see, the man who kidnapped my baby brother was a tall Tan man. Emilio Rizzoli was his name. Alan had mentioned how he had watched his 'dad' Ray strangle the tall Tan man. When I returned home, I began searching a news article archive, I found a police report explaining how Rizzoli had been murdered, but that the man who did the supposed killing had claimed he was protecting his wife and kids. The man's name was Ray." John glanced at the clock. Alan had so far been in the shower for 15 minutes, he hoped to finish this explanation as quickly as he could so as to not get Alan's hopes up of the possible outcome.

"I have already asked Pastor Woods, if he would allow Alan to take part in a paternity test. When I received his permission, I retrieved the necessary samples from my father. Fermat's dad happens to be a doctor who lives in our home and agreed to take the samples needed for testing. I have them with me in my satchel to give to the doctor for testing. If the test proves positive of my relations with him, I want to take the necessary steps to have him released from the foster system and placed back with my family."

John sat in total silence. He had just explained everything in less than thirty minutes. With the entire family and case worker sitting quietly, John was able to hear Alan shuffling about in his bedroom upstairs. Ms. Alexander met his gaze, and she smiled. She stood and crossed the room to John before kneeling and giving him a hug. As she leaned away, John blushed from the close contact.

"I hope for your sake, and Alan's that the test proves positive. But I do have to ask, you brought up your brother's quirks that Alan seems to display. Might I ask what quirks if any does he display from you?"

"Um…he is good at reading people's emotions and has a keen eye. That is my quirk. I tend to be very observant, what with my being somewhat shy. He asked me why I appeared sad the other day. It caught me off guard to say the least. I was in a relatively good mood, but I was thinking of my baby brother. Ever since he was taken from us, I have only felt like half of a whole human being. But when I am hanging around Alan, we are able to carry on a decent conversation. I feel like my old self when I am with him. When I saw his bedroom, I was shocked that it was designed to look like outer space. Fermat later told me, that Alan had told him that stargazing and searching for constellations was one of his more relaxing hobbies. It surprised me even more at that point, because that is exactly what I do to pass the time."

"Were you aware that Alan painted his bedroom by himself? He asked dad for permission, and when Jeffery and I offered to help him he said he had it covered. At one point, Jeffery and I snuck the door open to see what he was painting, and we were shocked to find that he had painted stars all over his room. When you go in, you can't help but feel like you are actually floating in space. I never knew that at the time a 10 year old now 11 could paint with such skill."

John's mouth hung open slightly at Jeremiah's admission. He had never guessed that Alan had painted his own bedroom. He figured that Pastor Woods hired somebody to paint it. He checked another quirk off the mental list of quirks that ran in his family. This one quirk screamed Virgil. John closed his mouth quickly and leaned back against the couch when he heard shuffling come down the stairs. Pastor Woods and Ms. Alexander stood to go to the door. They were leaving to go to the doctor.

"Come on John. Are you coming with us? You said you needed to drop something off at the doctor for your dad didn't you?" John didn't miss Pastor Woods wink or grin. John knew that the Pastor was trying to help him keep this whole test thing a secret until they knew whether or not Alan was his brother or not. No need to excite the kid if the results would only disappoint him.

"Yeah, thanks for bringing me along. My dad will sure appreciate your kind gesture." John stood up from his spot on the couch. He noticed a smile on Alan's face. The smile reached his eyes, and for a second he could have sworn that his mom was smiling through Alan.

"No way! Really? I get to spend more time with you?" Alan's smile grew even bigger at the prospect of being able to spend more time with his new hero.

"That's right Sprout. I have to take something to the same clinic you are going to for my dad. Pastor Woods and your case worker were kind enough to invite me along so I wouldn't have to take my rental car." John's heart swelled at seeing Alan's growing excitement. If this was his brother, he wouldn't mind seeing this happy face more often.

"Okay then, let's go. We have to meet with Alan's doctor in 2 hours. Hopefully the traffic won't be too bad." Ms. Alexander glanced at her watch. It would take 20 minutes if the traffic was low to get to the train station and then an hour and a half ride on the train plus 10 minutes was spent filling out the necessary paperwork. Opening the door, Alan ran out to the car. John followed and both sat in the backseat. Pastor Woods sat in the passenger seat and Ms. Alexander was driving.

"Um, Alan?" Pastor Woods glanced over his shoulder at the blonde boy. Alan looked at the pastor with a questioning gaze.

"Yeah, what is it sir?" Alan was puzzled. Normally his foster father and case worker would talk the entire trip and not talk to him unless it was concerning him.

"Are you feeling alright? I am sure Ms. Alexander has sick bags, in case you get car sick. Don't you Ms. Alexander?" At Pastor Woods's inquiry, Ms. Alexander nodded. She was prepared in the event Alan suffered from car sickness as he had in the past.

"Yeah I feel fine. I threw up about an hour ago and haven't eaten anything since then. I don't think I will be car sick. The only thing I have taken is my Dramamine; you know how the train ride usually makes me feel without it." Alan blushed. That was one of his other unsavory barf in public events that he would prefer to not think about.

"Okay, just wanted to make sure you were feeling alright. I knew you threw up earlier, but usually that can make things worse. And Alan I wanted to apologize about earlier. I lost my temper when I raised my voice at your brothers. I feel bad that I was the cause of your panic attack, and I wanted to apologize. Please accept my apology."

John watched the interaction in silence. Alan looked to be deep in thought, probably trying to figure out if it will be safe to forgive the pastor after his blow up. Before long, Alan's blue eyes looked out the window, and he took a deep breath before letting it out.

"I forgive you sir. I know you were just mad that I got hurt. I don't blame you for losing your temper." Alan smiled a genuine smile at the pastor.

After the talk that Alan and the pastor had, the trip became fairly quiet. When they pulled up at the train station, John watched Alan blow a big breath out, the action ruffling his bangs as he blew the air upwards. He could almost see the anxiety on Alan's face. John briefly wondered what Alan was talking about earlier with the statement "you know how the train rides make me feel" then the fact that Alan took a Dramamine. As everybody began to disembark the car, John couldn't help but to notice that Ms. Alexander grabbed a couple of small bags out of the pocket in the side of her door. John had a feeling that he was about to find out what Alan was talking about.

As they approached the ticket counter, John noticed that Alan was clinging to the pastor. Now that really made John wonder about what was going on? What was there to be afraid of when riding on a train? When they got their tickets Alan relaxed a little when he noticed that he and the pastor would be sharing a bench with John and Ms. Alexander on the opposite bench. Alan would have preferred to sit next to the pastor than John on the train ride. The pastor knew what Alan usually experienced on the train and was able to help Alan through the worst of it, thus the reason for the Dramamine.

As they settled in for the hour and a half long train ride, Alan turned his gaze out the window. The train started moving at a fairly even pace. They had been on the train maybe 20 minutes when Alan felt the first signs. His stomach was killing him and the cramps were terrible. He groaned lightly before rubbing his stomach. Being in a car didn't make him feel as bad as being on a train did. That was one downfall to living where they lived. If they decided to drive to Alan's doctor they would need to spend the night, because the drive would take a little over 5 hours both ways. Alan rested his head on the Pastor's strong arm, in an attempt to ignore the somersaults his stomach was doing.

"Hey buddy, you doing alright?" The pastor lifted the arm that Alan was resting his head on, and draped it over Alan's shoulder making the child lean his head on to his chest. Pastor Woods looked at Alan's face. The poor kid was as white as a sheet, and he felt a little clammy.

"Hm-Mmm." Alan slowly shook his head, any quicker and the room would be spinning a little faster. Alan began to slowly rub his stomach. He felt miserable. His stomach was painfully turning and he began to taste something very salty in his mouth.

"Mmm, Courtney? Could I get one of those bags from you? Alan doesn't look like he is feeling too hot." Reaching across the aisle, the pastor retrieved a bag from Ms. Alexander, before opening it and handing it to Alan. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted John lean forward as if to find out what was wrong with Alan. The pastor leaned forward as well and rotated his body so that he could block anybody's immediate view of the soon to be sick boy. Placing his hand on Alan's upper back he directed Alan to bring the bag up to his face at the first signs of becoming sick.

John sat in silence. Currently he was unable to see Alan, because the pastor was blocking his view of him. All he could see of Alan was his back. Alan was leaned forward also. John flinched when he heard Alan begin coughing. He noticed Ms. Alexander glance over at the pair on the opposite bench.

"You're alright. Take deep breaths." John heard the Pastor murmuring quietly to Alan who appeared to be coughing more frequently. Soon John understood the need for the bag though, because Alan was soon sick on the train. Each time Alan gagged, John couldn't help but to flinch. Deciding to check his watch, John soon began counting in his head, in an effort to ignore the boy tossing his cookies in the next set of seats.

Before long, the train began to come to a halt. The pastor stood to lean over Alan and shut the window, as he had opened it earlier to give Alan some fresh air. Alan sat resting his elbows on his knees still holding his sick bag. Alan's head had tilted forward. The boy felt exhausted. He hardly threw up; it was just more of being tired from the effort to heave. When the train came to a complete halt Alan noticed the pastor extracting the sick bag from the vice grip his fingers had on it. As the group got off the train, Alan noticed that John was way ahead of them. But then, he was probably in a hurry and couldn't wait for motion sickness boy to gain his bearings. As they stepped out on the platform, Alan noticed John coming back towards them. Alan became surprised when John extended a hand to Alan. In John's hand was a small child's bottle of ginger-ale. Alan accepted it gratefully. He wanted anything to wash the bad taste out of his mouth.

"So I see that you suffer from motion sickness too." John had a sympathetic smile on his face. John somehow felt positive that Alan and he were related. Only the blondes were suffering from motion sickness, unlike all the brunettes and singular redhead brothers.

"Yeah, it is usually worse though, but throwing up earlier made it a bit easier to deal with. But you get used to it, when you've had it for as long as you can remember." Alan opened the lid of his ginger-ale and began to take small sips, so as to not aggravate his still upset stomach.

John just watched Alan slightly out of the corner of his eye. Alan was a lot less clingy to the pastor and appeared more relaxed. The group began walking, to leave the train station. The clinic they were going to was only a few blocks away, so they walked. Ms. Alexander and Pastor Woods conversed lightly while Alan and John walked side by side in silence. Both John and Alan were lost in their thoughts. Alan was thinking of when the best time to redraw his destroyed sketch would be. John thought of the possible outcome of the paternity test and if it was positive how Alan and his family would take it? John feared that Alan would rather stay in the foster system than to move to a permanent home with his family.

Soon the group began to approach the clinic. Alan just looked at it with a slightly disinterested gaze, while John had a hopeful look on his face. Pastor Woods stepped forward and held the door open for the small group and walked in after his foster son crossed the threshold. When they entered the waiting room, Ms. Alexander approached the nurse's counter to retrieve the paperwork that Alan and the pastor would be filling out. John stood behind her to get the paperwork necessary for setting up an account so he could have the paternity test run on Alan. When John returned to his seat, he watched Alan and the pastor lightly discussing the paperwork. No doubt Alan was inquiring about some of the medical terminology, while the pastor was explaining it to the best of his ability to the curious boy.

Soon John found himself alone in the waiting room, as 15 minutes had passed since Alan returned the paperwork to the nurses. As John approached the nurse's counter with the paperwork, the door opened up to the doctor's area. There stood Ms. Alexander. She stepped up next to John and informed the paper nurse that they would need a blood test on Alan. When the nurse gave the case worker an odd look, Ms. Alexander spoke up quietly so the other people that were sitting in the waiting room would not hear what was being said.

"It is for a paternity test. This young man beside me brought some samples from his dad to have tested against Alan's samples to see if they are of relation." The nurse nodded before paging a phlebotomist to come draw some blood from Alan. John looked nervous. Ms. Alexander thought maybe John didn't like the thought of needles, even though he was not being stuck…it would be Alan. But in reality John was apprehensive because the thought that it could be a negative test crossed his mind. But like he told Alan, he would never stop looking for his little brother until he was found dead or alive.


	7. Fond Memories

Pastor Woods made me climb up and sit on the exam table. I followed the routine I have been following every month for the past 6 years. Sit on the exam table and stay quiet unless spoken to. Swing my legs back and forth while waiting for the nurse to come in and check my ears, listen to my heartbeat and lungs. Ask me basic questions about how I am feeling and if anything has been bothering me recently. It was very routine for me. So routine in fact, that unlike most kids who fear the doctor, I actually feel okay. I admit, I don't like shots, but I won't scream at the top of my lungs if I have to get them. I just avert my eyes and focus on the pastor until the doctor says he is done.

This time however, the doctor's appointment was slightly different. When my pediatrician Dr. Jürgen came in to give me my check up, another male doctor came in with him. He introduced himself as Dr. Mason. Dr. Mason asked me to remove my shirt because it was long sleeved. After I took off my shirt, Dr. Mason took my right arm and tied a rubber rope around my arm. After having me make a fist a couple times he claimed he was looking for a vein. I was not worried when I saw the needle.

"What are you doing?" I couldn't help my curiosity. This was not part of the routine doctor's visit.

"Your case worker has informed me that she needs you to be blood typed. So I need a small sample of your blood so we can make a note of it in your charts. Are you okay with needles?" Dr. Mason gave me a gentle wink, I guess to assure me that it wouldn't hurt. I knew it would feel like a pinch, I have had shots before. I just shrugged my shoulders and looked over at the pastor. He began quoting scripture as he has done in the past so I don't panic. It's pointless really, I don't freak out at the sight of needles. I was surprised when the doctor was done and had removed the needle from my arm. I looked at the glass tube my blood was in. It was cool when the doctor allowed me to touch the tube, though I was a little grossed out that the tube was warm.

"It's warm, because it just came from you." Dr. Mason grinned at me. I really liked Dr. Mason. He's not like some of the doctors I have had in the past that are crabby. While Dr. Mason let me look at the tube that my blood was in, I felt him wrapping tape on my arm. When I looked at my arm, there was a single piece of tape with some smiley faces holding a cotton ball to my arm where Dr. Mason took my blood. After Dr. Mason left the room, then Dr. Jürgen began his exam. I kept my shirt off, so he could look at the bruises I received from when the books fell on me.

"Okay, last order of business. That is quite the shiner you have there kid. Did you and your brothers get in a fight or something?" I didn't bother correcting the doctor on the fact that I didn't actually have siblings. Yes they were my foster brothers but we weren't true siblings. None of us were adopted by Pastor Woods and his wife, we just lived with them.

"Not quite a fight with them…but they were the cause." I figured the doctor would ask me to elaborate…no sense in explaining if he wasn't curious.

"Care to tell me how you got the black eye? I can't imagine that being head-butted would cause that." Dr. Jürgen chuckled at my evasiveness.

"They were playing a prank on me, and stacked a bunch of books in my closet. When I opened the door to get some clothes before getting my shower, they all fell on me. One of the books corners hit me in the face." I sighed as I thought about the pain. My eye smarted more than any other black eye should. I could hardly open it, and any chance I got to blink made it hurt. Dr. Jürgen gently lifted my eyelid to check for damage.

"Damage doesn't look too bad. It may hurt for a while though and your eye should look like a rainbow by the end of the week. But if the pain becomes unbearable, I want you to get to an ophthalmologist right away. Do you understand me Alan?" The doctor gave me a look that I recognized to be stern. But seeing him the usually goofy and happy doctor with that kind of look on his face, made me begin laughing.

"Yes sir." I managed to respond while laughing. Pastor Woods must have caught on to what I found so funny, because soon he was laughing too. The doctor soon joined us in laughter. I guess he realized how un-natural a scowl looked on his face. After I put my shirt back on, the doctor escorted us out, all of us still laughing. Rounding the corner, we opened the door to the lobby and were greeted with the puzzled gazes of Ms. Alexander and John. I had somewhat managed to get my laughter under control, but seeing them look so puzzled reignited my laughter. Soon Pastor Woods and Dr. Jürgen joined in my laughter again which in turn led to John and Ms. Alexander to begin laughing as well. When we all managed to get our laughing under control, I was the only unfortunate soul who looked a fright. My eyes were tearing up from laughing and my face was red.

As we left the clinic, John and Ms. Alexander began questioning what I had found so funny. Pastor Woods and I shared a knowing look, before I explained that my doctor doesn't do stern faces very well. At their questioning gaze I explained that all the times I had ever seen him he was always smiling, laughing, or both…but never had I seen him scowling before.

"What's so funny about a scowl huh Sprout? Usually that is a sign of irritation, not amusement." John said quietly. I chuckled at his reasoning.

"He was scowling because I told him the twins pranked me which led to me receiving this black eye. He wasn't happy that the twins caused me injury; he has been their pediatrician since they were little so he knows how extreme their pranks can go. I found it funny, because a smile works more in his favor than a scowl." John grinned and ruffled my hair as we walked. Thankfully Dr. Jürgen gave me some more Dramamine, so it just about knocked me out on the walk back to the train station.

When we approached the train station, my stomach growled. I had forgotten that I hadn't eaten anything since lunch, which I threw up almost immediately. Pastor Woods must have recognized how tired the Dramamine was making me judging on my jaw breaking yawn, because he suggested we stop and get something light to eat. At John's concerned look, Pastor Woods thankfully explained that I would undoubtedly fall asleep on the train because of a heavier dose of motion sickness medication. The stuff the doctor had given me was something similar to extra strength motion sickness medication, and it had a tendency to knock me out for hours.

After we got an early dinner of hamburgers and fries (much to Ms. Alexander's dismay), we made our way to the ticket counter. I could feel myself falling asleep, and as I stood next to Pastor Woods I felt my head tipping forward as I slowly began to nod off. I felt someone place their hands on my shoulders, but all my focus was on staying awake. Boarding the train, again with whoever was holding my shoulders guiding me in front of them, I was relieved to sit on the bench on the train. The last thing I remember was John sitting beside me, and me laying my head in his lap before falling asleep completely.

TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB

Jeff Tracy had thought he had seen the worst of his son's anger before…but now he wondered if his temper had ever gotten as bad as what Scott was displaying right now. There was literally nothing he could say that might potentially calm Scott down. Virgil and Gordon were in the office as well, as it was custom to stay together on the anniversary of Alan's kidnapping, but the boys had wisely chosen to stay quiet. Neither young man wanted to voice their distaste at John having left the island on this day of regret and mourning. Jeff glanced at his watch, so far John had been gone for about 5-6 hours and would be due to return home within the hour like he had promised.

Jeff had explained to all his remaining sons when they questioned where John was, that he had told John to go 'seek help' for his depression for the day. Jeff knew that his son was following up on possibly locating his youngest son, but he didn't want to tell his other sons that for fear that they would disapprove or be disappointed in the long run. When Scott had stopped to take a breath, Virgil jumped in to get a word in edgewise.

"Why did you tell John to go to the mainland though? We all know that John has frequently had video conferences with his psychologist since the incident, much like all of us." Jeff sighed. He looked at his third son, before taking a breath. The only thought running through Jeff's mind was 'here goes nothing'.

"Virgil, he is not seeing a psychologist right now. I sent him to go talk to a pastor about dealing with the guilt he carries. John seemed keen on the idea when I suggested it; you know how much he hates communicating with a psychologist anyways. I suggested John call the pastor that he had met when he took Fermat to the rec center, the pastor graciously allowed him to come visit for a few hours. I figured if it would help with the guilt then maybe it was worth it to break our little custom."

Scott halted in his pacing and Gordon raised his gaze at Jeff. Virgil sat in stunned silence. Never before had Jefferson Tracy ever suggested that a tradition or custom be broken. Regardless of the occasion, it had always been agreed that since Alan's kidnapping that the family would gather in Jeff's office and quietly remember the lost Tracy. They would frequently watch home movies that had been recorded of the boy. One of which was his homecoming from the hospital shortly after birth. Another was his first steps, his first word and so many other occasions.

"But why would that be okay dad?" Gordon chimed in his displeasure.

"It's okay, because it was my idea. John at first didn't want to go because this is the type of reaction he feared would happen. But at my insistence he reluctantly agreed, but made sure he would be home before late afternoon. He is not going to be gone all day, just half of it. And if it permits him to relinquish his guilt, then so be it. Besides the guilt John carries is because he was threatened by Rizzoli that if he called out to me that you boys would all be killed. John felt that protecting you all was more important. He told me a few years ago, that he thought the guy just wanted money, not to kidnap Alan which is why he agreed to stay quiet. John has carried that guilt at not being able to protect his baby brother better for 6 years. I mean he watched the man take off with Alan and could do nothing but scream for help. That is why I sent him, so he could begin to heal the hole in his heart that the guilt has caused." Jeff explained to his three currently irritated sons.

Scott bowed his head. Now he felt bad about chewing out his younger brother the night prior. He had forgotten that while he was covering his other two younger brothers from the gun wielding man that John had in fact watched the man attack their dad and make off with their baby brother. Scott raised his head just enough so that Jeff could make out tell-tale signs that his oldest son was trying not to cry. It had bothered all the brothers about the incident, but if anything it hurt Scott and John the most because after Lucy died Scott became something of a second father to his baby brother, when Jeff was unable to look at his youngest. But it bothered John because there was absolutely nothing he could have done to rescue his baby brother without possibly losing his life.

Jeff wished he could tell his other sons about what John was really doing on the mainland, but he didn't want them to get their hopes up. Jeff stood up to go give his sons a hug. He didn't care if Tracy men cared not for displaying their feelings, he was going to comfort his sons as best as he could. Patting his oldest son on the back, Jeff made Scott look at him before he began to speak.

"It is quite alright to cry my boy. John was crying earlier at the thought of leaving the island for today. But I convinced him this was for the best." With that said, Jeff was surprised when Scott laid his head in the crook of Jeff's neck and began crying. Jeff just rubbed the back of Scott's neck and crooned softly. He noticed his two younger sons sitting on the couch crying as well. Motioning to them, he opened his other arm to them inviting them in for a hug from their dad.

TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB

John sat in silence. He was reading a novel he had brought along for the train ride. He kept one hand resting on the boy's head which was resting on his lap. John took notice of the looks of awe that the pastor and Ms. Alexander had on their faces when John got Alan to lay his head down. It didn't go un-noticed by John that Alan was having trouble staying awake. The medicine the doctor had given him combined with some food was just the trick to effectively knock the kid out. When they stood at the ticket counter, Alan had begun to doze off while standing.

John took the liberty of directing his new little friend to walk in front of him to board the train. Alan was practically dead on his feet by the time they made it to their seats. The moment that John had gotten Alan to sit down, Alan's head fell forward. The kid had just boarded the train with a one way ticket to snooze land, which prompted John to lay Alan's head in his lap to save the boy from developing a crick in the neck later on. So far Alan had been asleep for an hour. They had thirty minutes left on the train. John gazed at the sleeping boy and smiled inwardly. He looked so innocent, not at all like how he had earlier. The boy had displayed a whole variety of emotions ranging from sorrow, happiness, joy, excitement, frustration, anger and embarrassment. Now though, the boy appeared relaxed. John chuckled to himself when Alan rolled over slightly to sleep on his back instead of his side.

As Alan slept John and Ms. Alexander conversed lightly about how they would tell Alan the news of having a family if the test came back positive. They felt bad about lying about the reason they needed a blood sample, but that seemed to be the only reasonable explanation. Before long the conductor's voice came over the intercom announcing their upcoming stop. John gently shook Alan awake at that. The train would be stopping in 5 minutes and Pastor Woods said if they didn't wake Alan now, then it would be a miracle if Alan was able to walk straight.

"Hey sprout, time to wake up." John gently rubbed his knuckle across the boy's cheek in an effort to awaken the slumbering boy. He couldn't help but to chuckle when Alan sleepily swatted at his hand. Trying again, John got the same response. Looking over at Pastor Woods, the pastor chuckled along with Ms. Alexander.

"He has always been a deep sleeper, but I guess with the heavier dose of motion sickness medicine it has effectively made him dead to the world. When we come to our stop if he is still asleep, I'll carry him. He is not heavy by any means." The pastor said quietly. John smiled at that statement. There was yet again another quirk that just screamed Virgil…being a very heavy sleeper. Even without the blood test results John was slowly becoming convinced that this Alan was his family's Alan.

As the train came to a halt, John gently lifted Alan's head so he could get up. When Pastor Woods offered to take the sleeping boy, John declined. However he asked if the pastor would help to get Alan secured to his back. Crouching down, the pastor helped shift Alan so his head was resting on John's shoulder with his arms dangling over his shoulders. John grabbed Alan's legs and stood up with a firm grip on the sleeping boy. Alan didn't even stir at the movement going on around him. The pastor was not lying when he said Alan was not heavy, the kid hardly weighed anything. John figured that had to do with how thin Alan was, but even he could remember being told he was heavy at Alan's age. John shrugged off the thought about Alan's weight and the three adults slowly made their way off the train. John was mindful of any groups of people that might potentially awaken the boy sleeping on his back. As they approached the car, Ms. Alexander unlocked it with her remote and opened the door so John could set the boy in the seat. After getting Alan buckled in, John crossed to the other side before getting in himself. Staring out the window, John continued to figure out a way to even broach the subject with his family if the test was positive.

The drive from the train station seemed to pass in the blink of an eye. Soon John was helping to get Alan out of the car for the pastor, and taking the boy up to his room. Before John left Alan's room though, he heard Alan stir. Turning back to the boy, John was greeted with a sleepy blue eyed gaze.

"Hey sprout. Welcome back to the land of the living. You've been asleep for a little more than an hour." John sat on the edge of Alan's bed and watched the boy as he became more alert. Alan looked around, to take in his surroundings before sitting up and stretching with a yawn.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to fall asleep." Alan looked mildly embarrassed at having fallen asleep, but John just shook his head with a soft smile.

"Don't worry about it sprout. The pastor said you were given a stronger dose of motion sickness medication. Trust me, I have been there before. I know how tired that medicine can make a person." Alan nodded his head before throwing his legs over the side of the bed to stand.

"So, are you getting ready to go? I know you mentioned that when we got back from the doctors that you would be going home." Alan looked up at John. John knelt to the boy's level before nodding.

"Yeah sprout. But I will keep in touch. Maybe sometime I can stop in to see you and your family again this summer. I may even bring Fermat with me next time." John felt sad at having to leave, but knew his dad and brothers would have his hide if he didn't return to the island like he promised his dad.

"Okay Johnny. Thank you for hanging out with me today. I'm sorry for getting sick and crying a lot earlier, trust me I don't do it that often." With that Alan gave John a hug goodbye.

"You are very welcome sprout. I had a blast hanging out with you today as well, regardless of the tears or motion sickness. I look forward to our next visit." John returned the hug to Alan. As John stood to leave, Alan quickly turned his back to run to his desk, before returning to John.

"Here! Show this to your artist brother. I want you to have it. I'm sorry it is ripped up." John unfolded the piece of paper to find it was the sketch that Alan had drawn of the Thunderbirds.

"I will, I am sure my brother will be very jealous of your skill. Not even he can draw people this good. Good bye for now sprout. Thank you for the drawing." John ruffled Alan's hair as he again stood to leave. Alan followed John down the stairs, and stood in the doorway waving with the pastor and his wife. John waved back to the family, before starting his rental car and returning to the airstrip so he could make the flight home.

TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB

Jeff, Scott, Virgil and Gordon all sat on the couch within Jeff's office. Virgil wanted to watch a home video of Alan and him. Virgil had taught Alan how to ride a bike when he was four. The video never failed to put a smile on Virgil's face. When Jeff hit play, at first all they saw was a blue screen before some footage began to play.

_"Hey, it's your favorite cameraman Scott here. Right now I am sneaking a video of Alan and Virgil. Yesterday was Alan's 4__th__ birthday, and he got his first bicycle…training wheels included. Alan has been pestering all of us to teach him how to ride it. He finally managed to convince Virgil to crawl out of bed. It is currently 8 in the morning, and as you probably know…Virgil is not a morning person. He won't get out of bed any time before 9:30. My best guess is that Alan didn't sleep the whole night…who am I kidding? He slept in my room last night and kept me up tossing and turning, I know he didn't sleep. *chuckle*"_

_ Scott turned the camera away from him, and aimed it in front of himself. You could see that Scott was walking somewhere. Before long, Scott stood in the front door and was videotaping a half asleep Virgil still in his pajamas and housecoat in the driveway with Alan. Alan was wearing his little outer space pajamas and housecoat as well._

_ "Okay Allie, sit here on the seat." A younger Virgil coached his little brother on how to sit on the bicycle seat. When Alan was sat down, Virgil knelt and grabbed Alan's left foot before positioning it on the pedal. When Virgil stood up to cross to the other side of Alan, the tiny boy grabbed his older brother's hand._

_ "Don, leave me brudder." Scott muffled a chuckle from behind the camera. Alan still had trouble saying some words, one of those words included 'brother'. From behind the camera, Scott zoomed up on Virgil and Alan, Scott was far enough to remain hidden, but close enough to still hear the boy's conversation._

_ "I'm not going anywhere Allie. I am helping you get comfortable on your bike. It's really fun, when you get used to it." With that said, Alan allowed Virgil to step away. Virgil quickly knelt and grabbed Alan's other foot and placed it on the pedals._

_ "Okay, you have watched how I ride my bike right?" Virgil questioned his youngest brother. Alan just looked at him in confusion._

_ "Yeah, you try to show me once." Virgil lightly corrected his little brother's grammar. _

_ "I 'tried' not 'try' to show you." Alan looked at him with a small grin._

_ "Yep, Virgie." Virgil placed one hand on Alan's shoulder before placing the other on Alan's left hand._

_ "Okay, push with your feet. I will hold on to you if that makes you comfortable." Virgil reassured his blond haired blue eyed little brother._

_ "Tank you Virgie." Scott chuckled again at Alan's muddled words. The entire family thought Alan's slight speech impediment was cute. He had always been very good with words, but had difficulty with some._

_ "Okay let's go! Push with your feet Allie!" Soon Scott zoomed out so more footage of where the boys were in the driveway. Alan was pedaling and Virgil was jogging beside the boy still holding on to him. Soon though Virgil tired out and released Alan so he could try riding on his own. Scott quietly cheered his little brother on for riding his bike for the first time._

_ When Alan realized that Virgil was no longer holding onto him, Alan applied the brakes that Virgil showed him how to use. After coming to a complete stop, Alan looked around before spotting his big brother crouching down. Riding his bike back up to his brother Alan frowned at the older boy._

_ "You said you not let me go 'til I felt comforble" Alan cried out, unfortunately his speech impediment made it hard to take the child's irritation. Soon Virgil was laughing, and Alan stood there red faced, his anger reaching a boiling point._

_ "I'm sorry Allie. I had to stop and take a break. You were doing just fine. You have been riding around for the last five minutes without me." Virgil congratulated the child in an effort to calm the child's irritation._

_ "I did it?" Alan smiled and hugged Virgil when his older brother confirmed the child had just ridden his bike by himself._

_ "You sure did sprout. Good job!" Virgil knelt down to the younger boy's level. One could tell that even for it being early in the morning the excitement on the small boy's face was quickly turning into exhaustion. _

_ "You sleepy sprout?" Virgil asked with a mild grin when Alan failed to withhold a loud yawn._

_ "No." Alan rubbed at his eyes as he refused a nap to his older brother. From behind the camera, you could hear Scott whispering a behind the scene's narration._

_ "'Course you are sprout. You even kept me awake last night. I know you are in dire need of a nap; otherwise we will all get to deal with a grumpy Alan. Come on Virge, convince the kid to go lay down. I know you just want to go back to bed for another hour anyway."_

_ "Oh come on Alan. Why don't you come back to bed with me. It's a little chilly out and I would hate for dad to get mad at me if you got sick on my watch! Please? I promise I won't make you go to sleep." Virgil tried reasoning with his little brother who was slowly becoming crabby._

_ "No…not tired." Alan grumbled. He yawned again, before reaching up to Virgil signaling that he wanted to be picked up. When Virgil picked his little brother up, Alan laid his head on the older boy's shoulder. Virgil grabbed the handle bars of Alan's bike with his free hand and pushed it back up to the house. Alan was soon fast asleep, and then Virgil spotted Scott with the camera._

_ "Dude! What are you doing?" Virgil asked with a blush that became quite evident on his face._

_ "What does it look like I am doing Virge? I was filming Alan ride his bike. Dad wouldn't believe us or Alan if we told him, so I figured video proof would work well. By the way nice pajamas." Scott said from behind the camera._

_ "Oh like you're one to talk monkey boy. I love the monkey print on your pajamas. Very mature. So what if I have clouds on mine." Virgil quickly defended his choice of pajama print._

_ "Calm down bro. I was just teasing…so is the sprout asleep?" The camera shifted closer as Scott stepped up close to his two younger brothers. It quickly became apparent that Alan was indeed fast asleep._

_ "Yeah, he is out like a light. I was gonna go put him back in his bed, but with the hold he has got on my housecoat, I doubt I would get very far. I am just going to take him to my room." Virgil glanced down at Alan's little fists, sure enough; Alan had a very tight grip on Virgil's housecoat. _

_ "Okay, well I think I am going to go back to bed myself. Alan kept me up most of the night tossing and turning." Scott said. Soon the camera shifted and the camera was faced back at Scott who had turned around to capture his two little brothers in the footage as well._

_ "Okay, well you heard the man. The three of us are exhausted and we are going back to bed, before dad drags us out of bed. This is Scott, Virgil and Alan Tracy signing off." With that farewell, Scott stopped the recording and the screen went black._

At the end of the video the group had smiles on their faces. It felt nice to remember their little man. It allowed the hurt to heal some, but unfortunately it can't cure the pain. As Jeff got up to shut off the video, his phone rang at his desk. Going over to answer it, Jeff was pleased to hear his second oldest son's voice.

"Hello? Dad, are you there? Just calling to let you know I am getting ready for take-off and I should be there in about one hour…will that be okay?" Jeff smiled, hearing John sound upbeat was nice to hear.

"Yes John that will be just fine. You fly safe you hear me and when you get back I want to have private meeting with you about how things went with you and the pastor." Jeff used the secret code that he and John came up with in which to privately discuss his findings.

"I hear you loud and clear dad. I think you will be pleased when you hear how things went with the pastor. Not only that but I met some really interesting characters today." John said with a smile on his face.

"Okay, well I am going to let you go so you can get in the air. Page me when you are getting ready to land and I will give you clearance. Love you son." Jeff replied to John.

"Love you too dad. See you and the guys soon."


	8. As The World Falls Down

After John's return, Scott immediately apologized for losing his temper and blowing up at John the night prior. After the brothers made up, Jeff ushered the other brothers out of the office so he and John could talk in private. John filled Jeff in on what he had learned about Alan Doe. He went into great detail of describing how the day had begun for him upon arrival and what Alan's feelings were. Jeff smiled and laughed as well as frowned when appropriate, but his eyes grew as big as saucers when John handed him the sketch Alan made that the two of them had repaired together.

"He drew this? But he is 11! How can he draw in such detail?" Jeff exclaimed. The picture he was looking at was in greater detail than the sketch of the brothers that Alan had given to John. Jeff couldn't quit gawking at the drawing of the Thunderbirds. The heavier detail went primarily into the uniforms the rescuers wore. Jeff actually wished he could call his son Virgil in to look at this picture, but he wouldn't until he knew for sure whether or not Alan was theirs or not.

"I don't know. But do you want to know how long it took him to make this sketch?" John had a gleam in his eye, but with the added frown. At Jeff's curious gaze, John's frown made a U-turn.

"How long did it take him? I know with Virgil it can take him up to two days to complete something of this caliber." Jeff kept looking down at the drawing. It really amazed him that a child had drawn this. Not even Virgil had been able to draw like this at Alan Doe's age.

"It took him about 6 hours." Again John's small smile slipped into a frown. Upon thinking back to why Alan drew this it quickly made John mad. It may have been an accident, but still inexcusable in his book.

"Hours? 6 hours? Oh my…! Doesn't the lad ever go to school? Isn't he supposed to be doing homework? Why would his foster parents have allowed him to draw for straight up 6 hours? Even I set time limits on how much Virgil was permitted to draw." Jeff couldn't believe that it took an 11 year old child six hours to draw this.

"Well, he is homeschooled. The constant moving around from foster family to foster family doesn't make it easy on Alan to stay caught up in school, so he made a deal with his case worker that he would be homeschooled so he could keep up with his studies. Fortunately his new foster mom happens to home school all their foster kids so she got Alan enrolled in her curriculum. You would not believe how smart he is…he is actually doing high school level work right along his foster brothers and sister. As for why his foster parents allowed him to draw for 6 hours…well he was recovering from surgery in the hospital." John explained. It had shocked John when he found that Alan was doing school work similar to sophomore level classes.

"Why did he need surgery?" Jeff looked concerned.

"He broke his ankle after inadvertently falling out of the tree house. However Alan maintained that his foster brothers or as he often calls them the "twin terrors" caused him to fall. The doctor wanted to keep him in the hospital until the anesthesia and pain medications wore off enough to know how Alan was feeling. He had to have 2 pins placed in his ankle, but he displays no problems that might have occurred." John frowned during his explanation. He had felt bad for Alan having to deal with a broken bone in the first place. The rest of the conversation revolved primarily around Alan and how they would go about telling everyone the good news should the paternity test come back positive.

TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB

A week had passed since John's return to the island. Everything was quiet. There had been no rescues as of late, so the Tracy men were going about their own business. Scott was making his way up to his bedroom, when he heard a phone ring in his brother John's bedroom. John had just gone out on a jog and wouldn't be back for a while. Deciding to answer the phone, Scott decided he would get the message from whoever was calling and relay it to John.

"Hello, Tracy residence." Scott answered his brother's phone. He grabbed a notepad and searched for a pencil so he could write a note to John about who called.

"Hi John. This is Pastor Woods." Scott pursed his lips before answering.

"No, I'm sorry this is his older brother Scott. John just stepped out for his afternoon jog. He won't be back for another half hour. Can I take your message?" Scott finally located a pencil in his brother's desk.

"Well yes. I was calling to find out if he would be interested in chaperoning a camping trip with me. I run an after school recreation center with my church for the kids in our town and since it is summer, I usually take my foster kids and rec center kids out for a week long camping trip in the mountains. But I am short one chaperone and I was hoping he could be of assistance." Pastor Woods replied

"Well, I can leave a note for him and have him give you a call back when he gets back in. Um, what is a good phone number for him to call you back at?" Scott inquired. He was puzzled. Why would the pastor have called John when they lived so far away…Scott just shrugged it off as it being a way for John to sooth the guilt that his dad informed him of.

"Oh he knows both my house number and my office number. But I will give it to you anyway in case he may have forgotten." As Pastor Woods rattled off the phone number, Scott couldn't help but smile. He had not met the pastor in person, but from just listening to his voice, he could understand why John had gone to visit him rather than talk to his psychologist. That crazy lady that called herself a psychologist had a voice that grated on his last nerve and was always picking and nagging them about being more open about their feelings over Alan's kidnapping.

After Scott hung up the phone with the pastor, he turned to leave the room. Flicking the light switch Scott left, leaving John's room the way it had been before he entered. Making his way down to the kitchen to get some juice, he almost ran right in to John who came jogging through the back patio door.

"Hey, where's the fire?" Scott teased John. Normally John would never come jogging in, already having stopped to walk. But this time, John just seemed lost in his thoughts. He had his music up loud enough that it would have been difficult for John to hear anything that Scott said. With a deadpan look on his face, Scott removed one of the ear buds from John's ear so he could talk to his brother.

"Yo bro! Can you still hear me?" Scott asked with a grin.

"Yeah, I can hear you just fine. What do you want?" John looked embarrassed for having been caught lost in his thoughts.

"I asked where the fire was. You came running into the house, and usually you walk." Scott clapped his brother on the shoulder.

"Sorry, had my head in the clouds. I forgot that I was coming in. It happens you know?" John looked down at his feet.

"No worries there bro…we all do it. But hey, before you get in the shower, you might want to call that pastor friend of yours." Scott spoke up as John walked up the stairs.

"Why?" John whirled around. He began to fear that the pastor may have mentioned their plan about if Alan was positively identified as his brother.

"He said he needs help with a camping trip and was wondering if you would be interested in chaperoning. Apparently it is a weeklong thing. I left a note with his message on your desk with his phone number."

"Okay, well thanks for the message!" John called over his shoulder as he took two steps at a time to make it up to his bedroom.

TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB

After John returned the pastor's phone call, he had agreed to be the chaperone. Turns out one of the church goers that normally will go on this annual camping trip had a family emergency and the pastor was unable to locate anybody else. He was planning on canceling the trip all together, when Alan suggested that he call John. Pastor Woods was extremely relieved that John had agreed, as the kids had all been looking forward to the camping excursion.

John would be leaving in two days and would be gone for the following week. He was looking forward to the trip, and had his bag packed and camping gear all ready to go. His brothers teased him about how excited he was, but John just grinned. He knew he would get to spend time with his new friends…that was the primary reason for the excitement. That and he had felt honored that Alan had suggested him as a candidate for chaperone material.

On the day that John was due to leave, his dad pulled him aside. He reminded John that should anything come up good or bad to let him know. John agreed before boarding the private jet. Turns out Scott would be dropping him off at the airstrip and would return with the jet. As the brothers flew, John couldn't help but to notice that Scott kept watching him.

"What is it?" John inquired. Apparently Scott thought he was being discreet in watching John because he immediately blushed at John's question.

"It's just…your different. You seem happier. What's up, meet a girl that you can't quit thinking about?" Scott teased. John's reply surprised Scott.

"A girl? No. I am just looking forward to meeting up with Pastor Woods and his family. The pastor agreed to pick me up at the airfield. But he is bringing Fermat's new little friend along. The kid has always wanted to see a private jet in person, so he jumped at the chance to come with the pastor to pick me up." Scott chuckled at John's explanation. It had undoubtedly surprised him that he would get to meet the pastor in person.

As they flew, John checked in with the air traffic control tower. They were clear for landing. John smiled privately. He wondered if Scott would pick up on Alan Doe's similarities to their little brother. John hoped he did, but also hoped he didn't.

As the jet came in to land, John took notice of the two people standing near the big bay window in the building. He knew it was Alan and the pastor as he had told them to keep by the bay window. After halting the jet, Scott and John disembarked. Making their way inside the terminal, John dropped his bag to catch the small blonde that launched himself at John. Swinging the boy around, John couldn't help but to laugh. The kid may be small, but his tackles packed quite a punch. Setting the boy down, John couldn't help but to notice the soft smile gracing his older brother's features.

"Hey buddy, how you doing?" John asked the boy, while ruffling his hair.

"I'm fine. How are you doing John?" John gazed down and his blue eyes met with the younger boy's blue eyes.

"I am doing fantastic actually. It is great to see you again. Hey, have you gotten taller since I saw you last?" John decided to poke some fun at the younger boy.

"Yeah, actually he has. He has grown another two inches if you can believe it." The pastor grinned, he knew it had been a rhetorical question directed at the boy, but he couldn't resist filling John in on Alan's little growth spurt.

"You have? Did I say you could grow buddy?" John didn't want to call Alan sprout in front of Scott, lest that anger his older brother.

"No. It just happened. Sally wanted to be measured, so Mrs. Woods measured all of us to show Sally how much taller all of us have gotten. I was the only one that has grown." Alan smiled his million watt smile at John. He felt proud that he has grown.

John laughed at Alan's excitement over having grown two inches in the past week. Before long, John realized that Scott was standing awkwardly off to the side. Turning to his older brother, John beckoned him over.

"Hey bud. I have someone here I want you to meet. This is my big brother Scott." John remained crouched down to Alan's level, and soon Scott mimicked his position.

"Hello. Well as John just said, my name is Scott. It's nice to meet you." Offering his hand out to the boy, Scott and John couldn't help but notice how quiet Alan had gotten. Soon the pastor came over and placed his hand on Alan's shoulder.

"Hey, son. Scott here doesn't know your name yet. Aren't you going to introduce yourself?" Alan looked at his feet with enraptured interest. Not meeting John or Scott's gaze, the pastor spoke for him.

"I'm sorry Scott. You'll have to excuse him. He tends to be a bit shy when meeting new people. He was fine when meeting John, because Fermat was with him. I have found that they both are quite shy, but when together they are as bad as the twins."

"No we're not…" Scott gazed down at the blushing blonde. For some odd reason the boy in front of him briefly reminded him of when John was little. His brother was so painfully shy it was ridiculous. Thinking back to his baby brother, he momentarily recalled that Alan had been just as shy as John as a small child. The whole family had joked that it was a blonde thing, because their mom who was also a blonde could be shy from time to time.

"Ah, he speaks! Come on bud. If you are that shy, just look at John when you speak to Scott. I am sure Scott won't mind." The pastor prompted Alan to again speak.

Alan raised his head slightly and tried to look at Scott to speak. He had done the same when he met John, except he had focused on the logo on John's t-shirt at first. Scott only had a black shirt on, and it didn't have a logo or anything to distract him from his bashfulness. Deciding to focus on the jet lingering in the background behind Scott, Alan managed to speak albeit it very quietly.

"Hi Scott. I'm Alan. It's nice to meet you too." Putting his quivering hand out, he was surprised when Scott's warm hand enveloped his own.

"I won't bite Alan. There is no need to be afraid of me. By the way, I like your name. It's unique." Scott smiled. He had been surprised when Alan had mentioned his name. It was spelled and pronounced the same way as his baby brother.

"I know you won't bite. John said the same thing, but it still took me a while to get used to him." Alan admitted, with a blush filling up his face. He began to chuckle when John, Scott and Pastor Woods began laughing. The group stood chatting for a few minutes, before long Pastor Woods glanced at his watch.

"Well, I don't like cutting this meet and greet short, but we need to get this show on the road. We have to be back at the church in an hour to get on the bus. It was nice meeting you Scott." Pastor Woods shook Scott's hand before departing.

"See you later Scott." John waved at his older brother.

"Hey Alan, come here." Scott crouched down to the boy's level again to speak.

"Yeah, what is it Scott?" Alan stepped closer to Scott.

"Keep an eye on my brother. He can be a hand full sometimes." Scott winked at Alan, which brought a smile to the boy's face.

"Okay. Bye Scott!" Alan hugged Scott around the neck before turning to follow John and the pastor.

"Hmm. I can now see why John was looking forward to seeing the pastor and his family." With that comment said to himself, Scott turned to return to his family's jet.

TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB

Upon arrival back to the church, the small group quickly boarded the bus. Everybody was loaded up, and ready to go. John and Alan sat together near the front of bus with the pastor. As the bus made its way through the mountains, the small group began playing word games. It would take another hour to make it up to the cabins they were staying at and it helped to pass the time.

"Okay, your turn John." Pastor Woods said. He placed a tally mark on a piece of paper marking the score that Alan was winning at the game of I Spy. John looked out the window to try to locate something to spy so he could give clues where necessary. Finally finding something, he began to speak.

"I spy with my little eye, something wide and barren" Alan began looking out the window to try to spot what John had spied. Not finding it, Alan quickly began throwing out options.

"A meadow." Alan could see plenty of meadows and open fields, but he had a sneaking suspicion that is not at all what John spied.

"Close, but no. Try again." John bit his lip, to keep from smiling. Alan was so close at guessing what he had spied.

"Hmm. Something wide and barren. A…parking lot?" Alan was unsure of his answer. He kept looking around and had spotted an empty turn around lot, but figured that wasn't what John had spied.

"Nope. One more guess." John looked out the window so as to not meet Alan's gaze. Alan was so close to guessing correctly.

"Campground?" Alan had just blurted out the one thing on his mind, and smiled when John blinked slowly.

"Ding-ding-ding we have a winner! Good job Sprout!" John ruffled Alan's hair again. The pastor chuckled as he placed another tally mark above Alan's name.

"Do you want to go again Alan? Or are you good? We only have about twenty minutes left until we reach the cabin.

"I'm good. So who won?" Alan was bursting at the seams. He had never been camping before, so this was a first.

"You did. Congratulations." Pastor Woods offer Alan his hand to receive a high five at the boy's victory.

"Yes!" Alan smiled at his victory.

"Easy sprout. What's got you so excited?" John chuckled as he watched Alan fidget.

"Well, this is my first time camping." Alan blushed as he admitted he had never been camping before.

"What? You've never been camping before? You haven't lived until you have gotten to go." John stretched in his seat. The seats in the church's bus were not uncomfortable, but sitting for close to two hours has that effect on most people.

"No, none of my previous families were ever interested in camping. They all just wanted to stay home when I would ask to go." Alan glowered at remembering how his previous families…all inner city people had just laughed at him when he asked to go camping.

"Do you mind if I ask why they wouldn't want to go camping? It is probably one of the most fun things I have ever been able to experience." John asked, a frown marring his features.

"I don't know. A few of my other foster dads would take their sons camping, but would often leave me home with their wives. When I begged to go, I would get grounded. Others would just laugh at me when I asked to go and say I was too young." John and Pastor Woods frowned. Pastor Woods just shook his head in disgust. '_How could those families even qualify to be fit for fostering? Ignoring a simple request to go camping? It's not like a little dirt hurt anyone.' _

"Well Sprout, I think you will have a blast. I am happy though that you will get to share this experience with the pastor and I." John tilted his head with a grin. He could see how much that admittance had hurt Alan.

"Yeah, I just can't wait until we get there. Pastor Woods said he planned a hiking trip and scavenger hunt for us. Right sir?" Alan's frown quickly became a smile when Pastor Woods smiled and grinned at the boy.

"Well, looks like you won't have to wait long, because there are the cabins up there." Pastor Woods pointed out the windshield of the bus. Alan's eyes grew as big as saucers. He had never seen three big cabins before. He had lived in a small one when he was first placed in the foster system, but it was soon found to be an unfit location, because Alan had come down with pneumonia from the drafty building. As the bus came to a halt, the pastor stood to gather the masses of excited children and teens.

"Okay, the boys ages 8 – 12 will be in the first cabin with John as their chaperone. Be sure to respect what he says, and if I hear from him that any of you are unruly, you can expect that your parents will be hearing about it. Girls you all will be in the second cabin with Mrs. Woods. We are not separating ages with any of you because there are plenty of beds. But the same goes for you all. If Amanda tells me that any of you are not acting accordingly your parents will be hearing about it. Boys ages 13 – 16 are going to be in the third cabin with me as their chaperone. Do you all understand?" Pastor Woods handed lists of what boys were staying with John and the list of girls staying with Mrs. Woods to the according chaperones, before disembarking the bus so everyone could gather their bags.

After the groups got settled in, they all met outside to start a campfire. Pastor Woods was going to show the younger kids how to build a fire if they were ever lost in the woods. He handed out compasses that he purchased through the rec center to the kids. They would come in handy during the hiking activity and scavenger hunt he had planned out for the next couple days. Looking up, he spotted clouds forming overhead. It looked as if it might rain, but hopefully it wouldn't ruin the weeklong camping trip.

"Let's hurry and get dinner started before it rains. I'm afraid the food won't cook if it is wet." Pastor Woods quickly began heating the prepared food that Mrs. Woods had made the night prior. After dolling out the meal to the kids and chaperones, they all quickly settled in and began talking and telling stories around the campfire.

Soon though a clap of thunder sounded, and the pastor extinguished the flame from the campfire before hurrying everybody to their cabins. Being electrocuted was not something he had planned for this camping excursion. They all had just gotten into their cabins when the wind began blowing and the rain began. It was a heavy rain which pounded all night. Thunder rumbled and lightning flashed and soon John lit a lantern to illuminate the cabin he and the younger kids were staying in. Looking around to make sure he had all the younger kids, then he noticed Alan sitting curled up by the fireplace. He looked terrified for some reason.

"Hey buddy. What's wrong? Are you feeling alright?" John made his way over to the quivering boy. Kneeling down he watched Alan flinch when some more thunder rumbled.

"He is scared of storms!" A boy not much younger than Alan called out to John.

"There is nothing to be afraid of." John murmured to the quivering child. When another clap of thunder sounded Alan quickly placed his hands over his ears and closed his eyes.

"I'm a good boy!" Alan whispered. His voice cracking from the emotions he was experiencing.

"Of course you're a good boy. You haven't done anything wrong." John placed his hand on Alan's shaking shoulders. Soon he heard a knock at the door. Asking one of the boys to answer it, John was surprised to find the pastor had braved the storm to come to their cabin.

"Hey Alan, it's okay. Nobody is going to hurt you." The pastor knelt beside John and spoke softly to the frightened boy.

"Breathe son. You are fine. John can you take the other kids to the sleeping quarters and come back when you are done? It looks as though Alan won't be sleeping tonight or at least while the storm is going on." John nodded before ushering the other boys to their bedroom before turning back to where the pastor and Alan were sitting.

"What's the matter with him?" John returned to his spot beside the pastor who was holding the shaking child by the shoulders. Alan had curled up into a tighter ball and kept repeating "I'm a good boy."

"He is reliving a memory. Of his time before he was placed in the foster system. His parents if you can call them that, fought all the time. Most of their fights were physical and caused scars to remain in Alan's memory." The pastor growled out in a low voice so as to not frighten the child. After an hour the thunder quit rumbling. Pastor Woods and John finally managed to get Alan to uncurl himself from his little ball. As soon as Alan calmed down, he quickly apologized for his behavior.

"It's okay Sprout. But…do you want to talk about it?" John didn't want to make the boy talk if he didn't want to.

"Thunder makes me remember the fights Ray and Judy often had. The thunder sounded like the loud booms that were made after Ray pushed her to the ground. It is also one of the last things I heard of Ray's fight with Devon." Tears welled up in Alan's eyes at the memory.

"Well nobody can hurt you now son. You are away from them, and Devon is safe from them as well." Pastor Woods comforted the distraught child.

"I know that. But it still scares me!" Alan cried, the tears coursing down his cheeks.

Pastor Woods and John continued to comfort the boy until he fell asleep. Rolling out a sleeping bag, Pastor Woods placed Alan inside before zipping it up. Alan didn't stir whilst the rain poured outside. John and the pastor conversed lightly before parting ways. John agreed to sleep in the den where Alan slept in case the boy woke up from the raging storm outside. After seeing the pastor out, John went and rolled out his own sleeping bag. Crawling in to settle down for the night, John glanced over at the sleeping child across from him. Before falling asleep, the rain increased in ferocity. Then the occupants of the cabin knew no more until dawn broke over the horizon.

Upon waking up, the group was dismayed that it was still raining steadily outside. Rolling up their sleeping bags, the group decided to make a simple breakfast with bacon and eggs. Thankfully the pastor had packed an ice chest for each cabin, and they would have food for a weeks' worth of breakfast, lunches and dinners. John stood in the mini kitchen, while the boys entertained themselves with stories. Alan however was seated by one of the far windows, sketchpad in hand. He wasn't facing towards the window, but in fact facing John who moved through the kitchen.

"Breakfast is ready guys. Come and get it while it's still hot." As all the boys gathered by the table, John noticed that Alan was still seated by the window. He was absorbed in his drawing. Stealthily making his way over to Alan, he glanced over Alan's shoulder to peer at his drawing. John's eyes widened when he saw that he himself had been Alan's drawing subject. Alan had captured John whipping the eggs in a large bowl. The John in the drawing was smiling at something one of the kids had said, and John smiled himself at how well it was drawn.

"Hey buddy. You gonna join us for breakfast?" John asked, startling the boy who sat in front of him.

"Yeah, I just wanted to finish my sketch while I remembered the details." Alan closed his sketchbook, before standing and with John making his way to the breakfast table.

For the entire day, it rained relentlessly. John managed to think up some activities that they all could play to keep the kids occupied. As night fell, John got the kids to settle in for the night. The rain finally stopped and the groups heaved a sigh of relief. They would get to go for the scavenger hunt the next day and all the kids were antsy. They had all been cooped up from the storm and had been unable to go outside at all. Before falling asleep, John and Alan sat in the den talking quietly.

"So are you having fun camping yet? I realize it is slow from the storm, but hey it works right?" John sat at the table with a mug of hot chocolate. Alan sat there as well with his own mug, curled up within his blankets.

"Yeah, being cooped up from the rain isn't fun much, but I have been able to work on my sketches, so that is good." Alan smiled. He had been able to add to his sketches, and he was able to re-create his drawing of the Thunderbirds. This time though he was able to draw scenery behind the rescuers that he hadn't been able to draw while on pain medication during his stay in the hospital.

"Do you mind showing me some of your drawings? I enjoy looking at them." John inquired. He truly enjoyed looking at Alan's drawings and searching for similarities that he and Virgil shared in their drawing styles.

"Sure. But promise you won't laugh at some of them?" Alan defended his artwork fiercely. He had been laughed at in the past for some of his drawings and didn't want to experience that again if he could help it.

"I promise. Scouts honor." John gave the hand gesture for the boy scouts code of honor.

"Okay." Alan got up and shuffled over to his backpack before retrieving his sketchbook. Upon returning to the table, Alan flipped to one of his more previous drawings. John looked at the drawings and the one he was looking at simply took his breath away. It was a charcoal drawing of Scott. Alan captured his dimpled smile, and glimmer in his eye. It was when Scott and Alan met at the airfield. Upon flipping to the next page, it was a drawing of Scott and John together with the pastor.

"You have quite the photographic memory. These drawings are spectacular." John couldn't tear his eyes away from the drawing. The detail was amazing. If John didn't know Alan had these drawing abilities he would say the kid was lying about who drew these. But John had watched Alan draw earlier and the skill he displayed amazed John.

"Thanks. But it's nothing. I just needed a subject to draw and drew something from memory. I hope it doesn't offend you that I used you and your brother as my subjects." Alan blushed.

"Not at all Sprout. In fact I am honored that you decided to use us as your subjects. If Scott saw this drawing right now, I am sure he would be flattered." John knew that Scott would probably blush heavily at seeing the drawing of himself.

"Yeah…maybe." Alan trailed off in his speech as a yawn interrupted him.

"Looks like we should be getting to bed, huh sprout? Can't exactly go on a hike if we are dead on our feet now can we?" Alan chuckled before taking his mug and setting it in the sink. After running water in his mug, he said his good nights and went off to the sleeping quarters. John soon followed and went to his own room to sleep.

TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB

After the camp woke up, they were greeted with a bright blue sky and the warm sun. John fixed breakfast for his charges and before long they were getting set to go on the scavenger hunt/hike. Teams of two were set up, and it was the boys against the girls. Soon the groups split up and began their hike. John and Alan made their way ahead of the group. As they walked, the pastor warned the younger boys to stay away from the edge of the hiking trail. With the rain the previous day, it made it very muddy and slippery. The group slowly made their way up the trail.

It was late afternoon when the group decided to turn back and make their way back to camp. They had already gathered almost all the items on their list. As they walked, the kids struggled to stay on their feet. The sun may have been out all afternoon, but the ground was still muddy. John and Alan remained side by side as they walked, the twins walking a few paces behind the two.

"So are you going to draw again when we get back to the cabin?" John asked Alan.

"Uh-huh! I actually have my sketchbook with me in my back-"Alan's sentence trailed off as Alan yelled in fright.

The ground had given way. Alan, John and the twins fell down the sharp cliff side. When they finally stopped rolling, they found themselves a good 50 feet down, lying in and around the debris from the landslide.

TBTBTBTBTB

"Is everyone okay? John! Jeffery, Jeremiah? Alan? Answer me!" John grit his teeth in pain. He could hear the pastor hollering, but struggled to answer back. It felt like his shoulder had been dislocated from the fall and his back was smarting. Sitting up clutching his shoulder, he found Jeffery trying to unearth his twin brother from the debris. Alan and Jeremiah were nowhere in sight. John could hear shouting from above them and looked up. He could see the Pastor holding on to a tree, leaning over the edge calling for them.

"Go get some help! I think my shoulder was dislocated! I am going to help Jeffery! Please hurry!" John shouted up to the pastor. When the pastor disappeared from the edge, John pushed himself to stand. His shoulder and back was killing him, and he couldn't move his arm. Hurrying over to Jeffery, John knelt down and began digging to help free Jeremiah. As they pulled at the rock, they were relieved to hear Jeremiah and Alan shouting from under the dirt and debris. Finally uncovering the two, John was dismayed when he tried to pull Alan from the debris, Alan cried out when his foot shifted into the mud. Helping Jeremiah crawl out of the mud, the three focused on freeing the injured child.

John, Jeremiah and Jeffery gently pulled Alan out of the debris and laid him down. Jeremiah only had use of one arm, the same as John. Except he had broken his arm, not dislocated his shoulder. Jeremiah grunted in pain as his arm shifted. Jeffery was the only one who appeared to be uninjured. He convinced his twin to not move so much and made Alan and Jeremiah lay down so as to not aggravate their injuries. As the sun began to set on the group, the only thing that crossed John's mind was that they needed help immediately. With the types of injuries sustained, the boys would begin to go into shock. John recalled his IR training and prayed that his own team would be called to their rescue.

Jeff sat in his office. Rescues had been slow, and Brains had been up in Thunderbird 5 working on installing the programs that would finish the satallite. Scott and the guys played in the pool or worked on their birds. So when the klaxon had sounded, everybody hurried to Jeff's office. The office quickly changed into command center. When Scott, Virgil and Gordon arrived, Brains popped up on the monitor.

"What is the emergency Brains?" Jeff inquired.

"I just received a c-call from search and r-rescue. Heavy r-rains caused a l-landslide w-which has d-displaced a group of hikers and i-injuries h-have been r-reported. T-three youths and o-one adult got c-caught in t-the slide and w-w-were swept d-down the r-ridge. The g-group's supervisor s-said he couldn't t-tell how b-bad the i-injuries of t-those individuals w-were." Brain's informed the group of rescuers.

"Where was this landslide?" Scott asked. He was standing in front of his portrait ready to go.

"It took place on M-mount Everett in M-Massachusetts. A church g-group c-camping in the a-area called search and rescue w-when t-they were s-separated by the l-landslide." When the location was revealed all the blood in Scott's face drained. Jeff caught the look on Scott's face and became alarmed.

"What is it Scott?" Jeff inquired to his oldest son.

"That is the group John is with. Remember he's chaperoning with Pastor Woods? They told me before I left that they would be going to Mount Everett." Scott's eyes enlarged as he spoke.

"Hurry and get to them! Someone try to send a signal to John's watch. See if he is alright!" Jeff's voice shook. He feared for his son's safety.

"I'm on it." Virgil entered John's code into his watch to contact his brother. A video transmission played out. Virgil could hear John's voice but couldn't see him.

"_Keep him awake. He must not fall asleep! Alan? Alan? You with me buddy?" _John's frantic voice rang out.

"_My head hurts." _A soft voice replied to John.

"_Okay buddy. Tell me what else hurts. Jeffery put some pressure on the cut. We need to stop the bleeding! Alan? Stay with me!" _John spoke to two people.

"_What can I do to help John? Please!" _Another voice rang out.

"_You can help, by staying still Jeremiah. You're injured and can't move too much. I don't want you to cause yourself further harm. Jeffery is the only one not seriously injured; if he has to he can go get help for us." _John spoke in a calm voice, but the family of rescuers could hear the pain in John's voice.

"_I hope those rescuers get here soon. Alan's eyes are dilated!" _A voice which sounded similar to Jeremiah called out.

"_I have no doubt he has a concussion Jeffery. The bleeding isn't helping, nor is the pain from his ankle. He needs urgent medical attention." _John spoke up. He was beginning to sound frantic._ "Jeffery, look through Alan's backpack please, give me a shirt or something to sop up the blood._

"_Here, it's his sleep shirt, hopefully it'll work." _Jeffery sounded muffled as it appeared John was moving around.

"_Thank you. Please hold this to his head, and hold it tight."_ John sounded like he was in pain. Jeffery gasped and he was soon followed by John gasping before cursing under his breath.

"_Alan? Alan! Stay with us! Do not fall asleep!" _John and Jeffery yelled in unison.

"_I'm trying…" _The soft voice of the child replied back. Pain was evident in his tone.

As the group of rescuers listened intently to the transmission, chills went up their spines. If John was injured, then they would be down a rescuer if anything occurred. The transmission cut out after they heard a voice they assumed to be Jeffery yell out.

"_Damn it! Don't do this to me! Stay awake Alan! Alan!"_


	9. Rescue Me

"Gordon, you stay with Kyrano and help run command center. Scott, get going. Virgil, you and I will go in Thunderbird 2." Jumping into gear, Scott took off into his portrait to Thunderbird 1. Virgil and Jeff went to Thunderbird 2 and hurried to fly out. Upon arrival to the scene of the landslide, Scott called in to command and Thunderbird 2.

"Commander, the landslide was pretty bad. The cabins up here are completely demolished. I am landing now to go rendezvous with S&R. We will figure out the best way to get to the injured parties." Scott spoke into his microphone.

"Okay, let's bring John and those boys off that mountain as safely as we can." Jeff replied.

"Will do commander, this is Op 1 over and out." With that Scott landed Thunderbird 1 and disembarked the jet.

"I am Op 1 with International Rescue. How can I be of service whilst the rest of my team arrives?" Scott asked in an authoritative tone.

"I am the head search and rescue. My name is Jerry Powers. First order of business, we need to get the coordinates from the pastor over there on where the injured parties are at. Second we need to get to the injured and assess their injuries and figure out the best method on removing them from the mountain. According to the pastor, the ground gave way from right under their feet and one adult and three children tumbled down the cliff side." Jerry introduced himself to Op 1 before getting right down to business.

"I will go talk to the pastor and get the coordinates. Then I will meet back up with you. The remainder of my team should be here by then. Then we can go over how to rescue those injured." Scott spoke to the man in charge of the rescue.

"Okay. I will be over in the tent looking at the topographic map to figure out where it will be safe to climb. With the sun having set, we will need to hurry." Jerry spoke quickly and quietly to Op 1. With a nod of his head, Scott turned to go talk to Pastor Woods.

"Excuse me. Are you the leader of this camping trip?" Scott knew he couldn't let on who he was or that he knew the man in front of him was a pastor.

"Yes, I am the pastor of my church and I run the recreation facility for the after school program." The pastor looked up at Scott. It broke Scott's heart to see the tears in the pastor's eyes.

"What is your name? You can call me Op 1." Scott spoke to the frenzied pastor.

"Pastor Franklin Woods. Please, you must save them! Three of my foster sons and chaperone are all injured." The pastor's voice shook in fear.

"Okay, sir. I realize that it is hard, but please calm down and explain to me what happened and if you know the extent of the separated parties injuries." Scott spoke calmly to the hysterical pastor.

"We were on a scavenger hunt. We had split into groups of two. We had just turned to come back to the cabins when the ground gave way. I managed to pull most of the kids to safety, but I heard some screams and a loud rumbling sound. When the noise ended, I took a head count and was missing my chaperone John and my three foster sons. Jeffery and Jeremiah were walking with John and Alan when the ground gave way." Tears welled up in Pastor Wood's eyes as he explained.

"I ran to the edge and held onto a tree. I looked over the edge, and saw John sprawled out on the ground. I yelled at them to wake up for over fifteen minutes. When Jeffery woke up, he quickly began digging. He was searching in the mud for his twin brother Jeremiah. Soon John woke up and hollered back that he thought his shoulder had been dislocated. I left before they found Jeremiah and Alan. John ordered me to go get help, so I took the other kids and we hurried down the trail. We were about three miles up the trail." The tears began cascading down the frantic pastor's face. Just the thought of his foster sons being injured was enough to make him ill with unease. "I went back up several times to check on them. Jeffery confirmed that both Alan and Jeremiah are injured too."

"Okay, I am going to go let the head searcher know of their whereabouts. I can see my team's other bird coming up, so they can assist in the rescue and treatment." Scott spoke in a calming voice.

"Okay. Please hurry! I…" The pastor broke down into sobs, falling to his knees. Scott turned to go let Jerry know where the injured party would be located. He heard the familiar roar of Thunderbird 2 coming in to land. Soon he was joined by his brother and father as they came up with a plan of rescue in the fast approaching night.

TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB

John struggled to stay conscious. It may be summer, but summers in Massachusetts could get pretty cold up in the mountains especially after storms. He and Jeffery were taking turns on monitoring Jeremiah and Alan's condition. Alan kept slipping in and out of consciousness. The laceration on the back of his head had since clotted, but John wasn't taking chances. Every time Alan would begin to fall asleep, John or Jeffery would jostle him slightly.

Each time John or Jeffery shook Alan, they had to be mindful of his broken ankle and any other potential injuries. John realized that the ankle Alan had broken from the fall in the tree house had been re-broken. Jeremiah talked to his twin non-stop to stay awake. The broken arm hurt the teen immensely, and each time he shifted even slightly he would groan in pain. Jeffery had a sprained ankle, but just had to grin and bear it. He was able to move, but walking was virtually impossible.

John hissed as he shifted closer to Alan. He couldn't move his right arm at all because of his dislocated shoulder. Lifting Alan's head slightly, John laid the boy's head on his lap. Leaning back against a pile of mud, he almost cried tears of relief when he heard voices. Catching Jeffery's attention, both guys began hollering in order to be found. When a beam of light shone down on them, from above John had to shield his eyes with his left hand. It was pitch black outside, and John's eyes had since adjusted to the total darkness.

"Hello! This is International Rescue! If you can hear me, please answer!" John bit his lip to stem the tears that had reached his eyes. They had been stuck in the dark, injured for six hours according to John's watch.

"I can hear you loud and clear!" John looked up as he hollered back to the International Rescue operative. John never thought he would be so glad to hear one of his brother's voices before now. It was a relief.

"Are you okay?" The rescuer yelled down the cliff-side to the injured party.

"No! All four of us are injured! Two of us are badly hurt!" John hollered back.

"Stay where you are all of you. I will be down in a second!" The rescuer yelled back. Soon the sound of scuffling could be heard as the rescuer repelled down the cliff-side. Upon arrival, the rescuer knelt beside John.

"Please call me Op 1. What is your name?" Scott asked his brother…he knew who John was, but figured it was a formality.

"My name is John. Please tend to Alan! I think he has a concussion." John motioned to the unconscious boy lying on his lap.

"First things first, what are your injuries? Can you walk?" Scott asked his younger brother. He could see that John was clutching at his shoulder.

"My shoulder…I think it was dislocated in the landslide. Yes I can walk with some difficulty, but I need help getting up, my back hurts too." John had to grit his teeth when a wave of pain washed over him. Scott convinced John to lie back against the hillside.

Moving over to exam the child, he found the laceration on the back of Alan's head had opened and was actively bleeding. Blood stained John's jeans from Alan's head wound. The child was completely unconscious. Upon further inspection Scott found Alan also had a broken ankle and some minor scratches.

Radioing in, he reported some of the injuries to the Commander and his brother Virgil who introduced himself as Operative three. Moving quickly over to the two teens, Scott inspected them for injuries. The teens introduced themselves as Jeremiah and Jeffery. Jeremiah had a broken arm and collarbone and Jeffery had a sprained ankle and a laceration between his shoulder blades. Scott called in the remaining injuries to his brother and father so they could set about preparing to rescue the injured parties. Scott took the collapsible backboard out of his pack and prepared Alan who was the worse injured for transport.

Placing a C collar on Alan, Scott with Jeffery's help slipped the backboard underneath Alan. As Scott finished securing the injured child to the board, a bright spotlight shone down on them from Thunderbird 2. Looking up, Scott was met with the sight of his brother Virgil coming down in the rescue platform. Virgil shut off his speaker so he and Scott could carry a conversation without anybody else hearing it.

"Scott, I am ready to take the first casualty. How is John?" Virgil asked his older brother.

"Found out that kid there is named Alan." Scott pointed at the unconscious child on the backboard.

"John has a dislocated shoulder, but I want to secure him to a backboard. He says it is difficult to walk because his back is hurting him, so I don't want to take any chances. When we come back down, please bring three other backboards for those two teens and John. This ground is really unstable; I don't want it to shift while we are on it so we need to hurry." Scott replied back.

Virgil looked down at the child in front of him. The boy was covered in mud and blood. His eyes were closed, but one could see he was beginning to awaken. He was biting his lip to keep from crying out. Virgil knelt down to converse with the child so he wouldn't panic when they began to move him.

"Hey kid. You are gonna be just fine. Op 1 and I are going to take you to get some medical attention. Stay with us." Virgil gazed down at the child. The boy opened his eyes and Virgil inhaled. In the rays of Thunderbird 2's spotlight, Virgil could clearly see Alan's blue eyes gazing back up at him.

"I'm scared." Tears welled up in Alan's eyes as his bottom lip trembled. Virgil had to bite his tongue to keep from comforting the child. Instead he decided to just reassure the kid that there was nothing to be afraid of.

"It's okay kid. Everybody gets scared once in a while. But you don't need to fear us. We're here to help you." He and Scott lifted the backboard and boarded the rescue platform before signaling Jeff to lift them into the underbelly of Thunderbird 2. Upon arrival, Virgil quickly took over, trading places with his dad, Virgil had advanced medical knowledge, and immediately began checking Alan over for any other injuries. Scott and Jeff left Virgil to his work, and operated the hand activated lift lever.

"Hey kid, you awake?" Virgil looked closely at the boy. He was trembling, and Virgil briefly wondered if Alan was in delayed shock.

"Johnny. Jeremiah, Jeffery! Are they okay? I'm scared!" Alan began sobbing as the stress of the situation fell on his tiny shoulders.

"It's okay kid. My comrades are bringing them up in a few moments. Can you tell me your name?" Virgil changed the subject in an attempt to calm the child. The crying might only aggravate his injuries.

"My name is Alan." Tears continued to well up in the boy's eyes, and Virgil could see Alan's lip trembling from the built up emotion.

"How old are you Alan?" Virgil tried any subject to distract the distraught child from the pain or fear. Soon, Virgil had checked Alan for any spinal or neck injuries and okayed him to sit up. Virgil sterilized the laceration on the back of Alan's head and placed a piece of gauze over the wound to try and stem the blood flow, before making Alan lay down again.

"I'm 11 years old." Alan gulped a breath, to try to reign in his tears. Virgil watched the child bite his lip.

"How long you been 11?" Virgil continued to make small talk with the child.

"I just turned 11 a month ago." Alan sniffled, while choking on his breaths. He hiccupped a couple times. A cry fell from Alan's mouth, when Virgil had cut his pant leg near the ankle. His ankle was throbbing painfully.

"Sorry kid. On a scale of one to ten, how bad does your ankle hurt?" Virgil chewed on his lip, when he realized he would need to remove the boy's hiking boot. He couldn't treat the boy's ankle with it still encased in the boot.

"A twelve!" Alan broke into another round of sobs. His ankle was hurting worse than it had the last time he broke his ankle.

"Okay, kid. I am going to need your full cooperation to remove your boot. I can't treat your ankle like this." Virgil hated having to do this to a defenseless child. Virgil exhaled a sigh of relief when he heard the lift coming back up. When the lift stopped, Virgil glanced over his shoulder to see Scott and Jeff bringing the other badly injured boy in. As the two rescuers approached the medi-bay, the other boy slowly raised his head.

"Alan! It's Jeremiah! Are you okay? Why are you crying?" Jeremiah became frantic, and to not cause either boy further injury, Scott and Jeff placed his backboard close to Alan.

"Scott, dad. I need you two to hurry with the rescue. I need to remove the boy's boot to properly assess his broken ankle, but will need help restraining him." Virgil spoke into his com-link so that both his brother and father but not the kids could hear what was said.

"Okay, we are almost done, John is insisting on walking, but we are going to try to make him lay on a backboard, if nothing else than for appearances. We will be bringing him last." Jeff replied coolly to Virgil. Scott nodded his head in agreement.

As Scott and Jeff returned to the lift, Virgil turned his attention back to the injured youths. He stayed quiet while Alan and Jeremiah talked. Jeremiah was trying to calm the boy down, but was struggling in his endeavors. Virgil began cutting Jeremiah's shirt off so he could splint the boy's arm. Virgil's eyes widened when he spotted blood on the older teen's t-shirt.

"Where are you bleeding?" Virgil questioned the Jeremiah in a professional manner.

"It's not my blood. It's Alan's. We were buried in the mud together. I grabbed ahold of him when we fell and tried to cushion his head. I didn't know he was bleeding until John and Jeffery pulled us out of the mud." Jeremiah looked around at the sharp intake of breath. "Alan? Are you okay?" Jeremiah began frantically questioning his foster brother on his injuries.

"Jere…my head hurts." Alan tried controlling his breathing. He was fighting the need to go to sleep, and it was becoming increasingly difficult.

"No doubt. What else hurts?" Jeremiah was trying to calm the boy who he had known for the past 5 months.

"My ankle…it hurts worse than before!" Alan's voice broke. He began sobbing again because the pain in his ankle and head was enough to virtually take his breath away.

"Oh god. It's not your bad ankle is it?" Jeremiah inhaled sharply when Alan confirmed that it was in fact his recently healed broken ankle. Virgil decided to question the older boy on what was wrong with Alan's ankle.

"He broke it a couple months ago. My brother and I left a mess in our tree house, and Alan tripped. He fell from the catwalk and landed wrong. Dad and mom rushed him to the hospital when he couldn't stand to put weight on it. He had to have two pins placed in surgically." Jeremiah explained as quickly as he could. Alan had not stopped crying, and he continued to whimper in pain.

Virgil distinctly heard Scott and Jeff bringing in the other teenager. _'Three down, one to go.'_ After securing Jeremiah's arm and cushioning his collarbone as best he could, Virgil went back to inspecting the laceration on the back of Alan's head. It had stopped actively bleeding, but the swelling and bruising on the boy's head was spectacular. Virgil continued conversing with Alan and Jeremiah in an effort to keep Alan awake. Soon though, Jeremiah's twin brother Jeffery joined into the conversation.

"Jeremiah, Alan? Can you hear me?" Virgil glanced between the two older boys before deciding they were identical twins. Jeremiah offered out his good arm to his twin and took hold of his younger brother's hand to comfort him.

"Yeah little brother, I can hear you just fine. Are you hurt?" Jeremiah reassured his younger twin that he was hurt but alive.

"I sprained my ankle and my back stings, but it's nothing I can't handle." Jeffery spoke softly to his brother. Looking around for the source of the crying, Jeffery soon began crooning at his little foster brother.

"Alan? You okay bean? You scared me earlier." Jeffery bit his lip. Hearing Alan cry was heartbreaking. The boy had cried so much in his short life, and even though Jeffery hadn't known him long, he knew that Alan was quite mature for his age. Being in the foster system sometimes had that effect on some kids. Releasing his older twin brother's hand, Jeffery soon gripped Alan's hand to offer some comfort. Turning his head slightly, he could see Alan's face was red and streaked with tears.

Jeffery knew how it felt to break a bone before, which was the reason he and his older twin had been placed in the foster system. Their father had broken his arm, and refused to take him to the hospital. It had been the elderly neighbor who came over to watch him and his brother when they were growing up who took him to the hospital. The elderly man had been more fatherly to the two boys than their own father, and he cared enough for the boys to say goodbye, when he requested that child protective services be called. Jeffery and Jeremiah were seven at the time. Almost immediately they had been placed with the pastor and his wife, both having recently released their two oldest children from the nest, and were ready and willing to accept more children into their loving arms.

Jeffery almost immediately began calling the pastor and his wife mom and dad, while it took his older twin brother a few months longer to get used to not having to be smacked around on a daily basis. Firmly shaking his head, Jeffery quickly changed his train of thought, not wishing to go on a trip down memory lane. His thoughts soon became punctuated with cries. 'Turning on his 'hearing aid' as the pastor referred to his selective hearing, Jeffery soon became aware that Alan had been talking to him.

"Sorry bro, I didn't catch that. Could you please repeat what you said?" Jeffery admonished himself for zoning out and not giving Alan attention, especially after this whole ordeal had happened.

"I said, I want sir!" Jeffery and Jeremiah exchanged concerned glances from their backboards. Somehow they could feel the questions coming from their rescuers. Alan had always called Pastor Woods sir, never once attempting to refer to the man as dad.

"Who is sir?" The main rescuer who had requested they call him op 1 inquired, he had returned with his comrade and John during Jeffery's trip down memory lane. Jeffery bit his lip while contemplating the answer. Looking over at his older twin, he caught the deft nod of his head, signaling him to answer their rescuers question.

"Um…'sir' is our foster father. Alan has always been unable to call the pastor 'dad'. In some of his previous foster homes, he wasn't treated very kindly for calling those people 'mom' or 'dad'; they always insisted he call them "ma'am" or 'sir'." Upon hearing a groan, Jeffery and Jeremiah turned their heads to see John. He was clutching his shoulder and trying to sit up. The medic was hovering over him inspecting his dislocated shoulder.

"Alan, little buddy, please talk to me. It's me John." John ignored the questions from the medic and focused on the crying little boy who had begun hiccupping from crying so hard.

"Joh…nny!" Virgil, Scott and Jeff inhaled quietly from within their helmets. They were watching their brother and this little boy interact much like how true siblings acted when their sibling was injured.

"I'm here little buddy. Big brother is here." John grabbed ahold of Alan's shaking hand and squeezed firmly to let the frightened boy know he was there.

"M-My a-a-ank…le h-hurts Joh…nny!" Alan cried out. Virgil stood up when he was reminded of the pain Alan was in, and that before he could take off to the hospital with the injured on board he would need to remove the boy's boot.

"Op 1, I need your help with removing his boot. I need you to hold him still while I cut it off. I need to splint or brace his ankle in case we encounter turbulence while in the air." Virgil looked at Scott, and motioned for Jeff to help him.

Grabbing the tools necessary for the extraction of Alan's foot from his boot, Scott leaned down and firmly placed his hands on the boy's shoulders to hold him down, while Virgil and Jeff set about cutting Alan's boot off. Scott noticed the boy began shaking harder, but John who was still holding Alan's hand got the boy to direct his attention to him.

"Hey bud. Tell me about your drawings, what were you planning to draw when we got back to the cabin?" John tried to keep the subject light so as to not alarm the boy of what was going on by his feet.

"T-the T-t-thunderb-birds again." Alan squeaked out. John smiled warmly. Deciding to keep on that topic, John decided to ask who the boy's favorite thunderbird was.

"So do you have a favorite Thunderbird pilot?" John whispered into the boy's ear.

"No, I like all of them." Alan looked directly into John's blue eyes, much like his own.

"If you could talk to one of the Thunderbirds what would you ask them or tell them?" John realized that his line of questions was beginning to intrigue his brothers as well as the twins.

"I would first tell them that they are my heroes, then I would ask how you go about joining their organization." Alan offered a teary smile, before hissing in pain. When Alan tried to look down at his foot, John quickly released Alan's hand and gently grabbed his chin to make him keep his eyes firmly on him, not on the situation of his foot.

"Focus on me bud. Don't look at your foot. It will only make it hurt more." John gently commanded the child that was laid down in front of him.

"Okay." Alan sniffled, before a couple tears made their trek down his face. John used his thumb to wipe the tears from the boy's face.

"Why would you ask about how to join their organization?" John questioned.

"Because I watch all of their rescues on the news. One day, I would like to help them rescue people too." John could see Scott's shoulder tense up from the boy admitting that he wished to join International Rescue.

"So, what made you want to help them in rescues?" John inquired, truly curious about the child's reasoning.

"Just watching how they work. They all show such courage, risking their lives to save people they don't know, just like now. I think it would be amazing to work alongside them." Alan closed his eyes as tears again leaked from his eyes.

"Hey, why are crying? Is your ankle hurting more?" John became slightly alarmed at the boy's tears.

"No. I just don't understand!" Alan felt a slight increase in pressure on his shoulders and opened his eyes. He gazed up at the mask of Op 1 and tried to imagine where his eyes where within the helmet, and what color they might be.

"What don't you understand bud?" John inquired. He was wondering what exactly Alan didn't understand. Was it having his ankle re-broken, what caused the landslide? The twins tensed up when they noticed the change in Alan's mannerisms. The boy had become a ticking time bomb in the blink of an eye.

"Why I was rescued!" Alan bit his lip as he mumbled out what he didn't understand. Only John had heard him, but Scott had been able to read his lips and froze at the child's train of thought.

"Don't you ever say that again. Do you hear me Alan? You were rescued because there are people who care about you." John whispered in a firm voice, while choking back tears.

"Who would care about me, the foster system? Do you think the dead man who sold me to those monsters cares that he took me from my real family? There is nobody who cares! I don't have a real family! My family obviously doesn't care about me, because they have stopped looking for me!" Alan shot daggers at John, his temper making itself known.

"Do you really believe that?" It was Scott who intervened, seeing John trying to control his own mounting temper.

"What else is there to believe? Devon told me I was bought for almost a million dollars, and I have been treated like filth ever since! Since I was five years old I have been pushed around by Ray and Judy, fearing the day that Ray would kill Devon just so he could kill me too! It wasn't until Ray killed Judy and Devon ordered me to call 911, that I was finally free. Ray almost killed Devon that night! He tried to strangle him too, but Devon fought to protect me, he was the only one who protected me! He is the only thing that even resembled family to me, and he had been purchased too!" Tears of frustration rolled down Alan's cheeks. Alan had his teeth clenched, trying to get his temper under control.

"Then in the last five years I was passed around through the foster system to twelve different states and split between 19 foster families, and because Devon was a minor when we were freed he couldn't adopt me! So yeah, I do believe that. I don't understand why anybody would want to save a waste of space!" As Alan seethed, the words 'like me' hung in the air after his angered statement. "I hate it! Sometimes I wish that Ray had killed me, just to save me from the pain of never knowing my real family." Alan's voice had picked up in volume while he vented, and Virgil and Jeff halted what they were doing near Alan's ankle when they heard what he had said. Jeremiah and Jeffery were fighting tears. They could relate to Alan's belief. But the twins knew he was far from right. Jeffery bit his lip, before trying to talk to his younger foster brother.

"Alan, I know that life has been nothing but shit up until now, but mom and dad do care for you just as much as Stacy and Sally, if not more. When your case worker approached them about taking you in, mom became really excited at the prospect of helping you. Dad talked it over with all of us, and we all came to the mutual agreement, that you needed help. If you couldn't have a normal home life, then that temper of yours would just get you into more trouble." Jeffery stopped short in his speech when his brother chimed in.

"Even though you have only been with us for five months, I can already see a difference. Mom has helped you to bring up your grades; I mean you are even able to help Jeffery and me with our homework. But you have also taken the children who frequent the rec center under your wing. Unlike Jeffery and I who know our family doesn't care, I can't help but believe that your family has never stopped looking for you. You were not given up by your family willingly. You were kidnapped and sold. You can't give up. When you do that, then there is no more help that can be provided. I almost reached that point, but the love and warmth that I received from mom and dad and even from you, Stacy, Jeffery and yes even Sally has been what kept me from crossing over to the dark side. I care about you and so does Jeffery. None of us want to see you hurt by the uncaring actions of others. That bastard who took you from your family is dead, and the monster who bought you is locked up for life for hurting you and Devon." Jeremiah cut himself off. He could practically see the lit fuse that was Alan's explosive temper die out. The anger began to diminish, and was again replaced with tears. The self-loathing that had been present slowly started to die out. The twins had been able to get through to the boy, and convince him that he was loved.

"I care about you Alan. You may only be my newest friend, but do you remember the promise we made each other a week ago? I would be your big brother if you would be my little brother, because we are best buds. You showed me with your art, and your caring attitude proves how you deserve a place within a family. Remember how I told you that I would never stop looking for my baby brother who was taken from my family? Well, you have to believe that there is someone out there who is just as determined to find you, as I am to find my baby brother. You can't give up." John managed to control the tears that threatened to fall during his explanation, but noticed the tears that had again begun to cascade down Alan's face. Stroking Alan's cheek with his thumb, John lost his battle with his own tears as he closed his eyes. It simply killed him inside to know that this little boy had been feeling this way for who knows how long. Taking a deep breathe, John opened his eyes to see a matching pair of blue eyes gazing back up at him.

"I'm sorry Johnny." Alan's bottom lip trembled as he fought to control his emotions. John couldn't help the crooked grin that arose. Resting his head down beside Alan's he began whispering to the boy.

"It's okay. You're scared, and feeling angry is natural. Just don't say those things again. It really hurts to hear the doubt. Because when there is doubt, then you begin second guessing yourself. That is never a good thing." John gently carded his fingers through Alan's blonde hair.

"Excuse me, but we are going to begin splinting the boy's ankle. We are going to need to numb the area so he is not in any more pain. Is he allergic to any medications?" The voice of Virgil was heard, and Jeremiah spoke up to answer the medic.

"The only medicine Alan is allergic to is methadone."

"Thank you…Jeffery is it? That is all I need to hear." Virgil thanked the boy who answered, but had forgotten which twin was who.

"Jeffery is over there. I am Jeremiah." Jeremiah tilted his head towards his twin, before smiling and reminding the medic of which twin he was.

"Sorry Jeremiah, I apologize for getting you and your brother confused." Even behind his helmet, the Tracy brothers could tell Virgil was blushing from his mistake.

"It's okay. It's common for Jeffery and me to be mistaken for the other. I mean we are identical twins. Even mom and dad still get us mixed up. But here's a little hint, so you can properly address us next time. I am the one who has a brown left eye and green right eye. Jeffery only has green eyes." Jeremiah smiled in amusement. He enjoyed being able to get people confused with his twin…it was one way that the two boys stayed out of trouble for the most part.

"Well, thank you for bringing up that your little brother is allergic to methadone Jeremiah. Again I apologize for mistaking you for your twin."

"No problem." Jeremiah rested his head back on the backboard. His arm and collarbone was killing him, and he didn't want to think about the pain. Focusing on Alan and how John and he interacted had been able to distract him from his own pain.

John kept a firm grip on Alan's chin to keep him from trying to look down at his ankle. John cringed when he could see one of the pins that had been holding his ankle together up till now poking out of his sock. Blood stained his sock, and John didn't want Alan to panic from seeing the blood. John noticed that his brothers who were working as IR operatives where somewhat focusing on him.

"Okay, you may feel a slight pinch that is just the injection of the general anesthetic. You should feel a little less pain in a moment followed by some pressure. Okay kid?" Jeff spoke this time. He could feel the child quivering…whether it is from pain or fear, he didn't know. Seeing the boy nod in understanding, Virgil and Jeff continued with the stabilizing of Alan's ankle. John successfully managed to keep Alan's attention on him and not on the boy's injury. After Jeff and Virgil completed the stabilization, Scott stood to leave.

John kept Alan distracted for the most part from his injuries, but faltered the moment that Scott stood to leave. Seeing the look on Alan's face broke his heart once again. Alan had confided in him that the Thunderbirds as the boy had called them were his heroes. He watched as many of their rescues as he could. As Scott stood to leave, a look of gloom descended onto the boy's face. John realized it was because Alan had not been able to ask the IR operatives his question. Surely, John thought his brothers had not heard Alan's quiet answer to John's previous question.

Standing himself, John timidly tapped Scott on the shoulder to gain his brother's attention. When Scott turned around, John could almost see the alarm bells going off. It was not normal for IR operatives to interact with people outside of a rescue…but Scott was curious about what his younger brother was doing. Keeping the façade of not knowing John in place, Scott questioned the younger male.

"What is it sir?" Scott questioned.

"Alan, the little boy you rescued wants to say a word of thanks to you." John offered up, hoping Scott would get the hint that Alan wanted to say something else to Scott.

"Okay, but then I must be off." Scott walked back over to where Alan was lying. The boy's eyes were closed. Scott thought he might be asleep, but knelt down beside the backboard regardless. It was at that moment, that Alan opened his eyes. Scott was met with blue eyes that looked oddly familiar. A thing from his past, eyes he hadn't seen for six years, but shook the thought off. There was no way. No possible way that this boy and their Alan was the same person. It had to be a coincidence.

"Hello." Alan's soft voice rang out. The child was no longer frantic and crying, so Scott was able to hear the melodious tone of his voice.

"Hey kid. Your friend over there said you wanted to say something to me. So shoot." Scott spoke gently to the boy so as to not alarm him. Scott however did not miss the fact Alan shot a glare at John…the guy Scott had motioned to or began to blush heavily.

"Thank you." Scott almost didn't hear Alan mumble out the word of thanks. His words were a jumbled mess, and that was when Scott remembered his brief meeting with Alan earlier in the week. Alan was shy when meeting new people, and instantly wished the whole International Rescue secrecy thing didn't exist. He wanted Alan to feel comfortable speaking to him, not to literally shy away from him.

"What did you say son, I'm afraid I didn't catch that." Scott prompted the boy to speak louder and clearer. Seeing the prompting changing the boy's demeanor, Scott got quiet.

"I said, thank you. Thank you for rescuing me and my friends." Alan's blush increased to the point that Alan's face looked almost purple. Scott's warm smile was hidden by his mask, but you could hear the smile in his voice.

"You're welcome kid. I appreciate hearing a thank you from one of my rescues." Scott noticed that Virgil, Jeff and John were watching him with what they thought was a discreet gaze.

"It's Alan." Alan corrected the IR operative. His name wasn't kid…it was Alan.

"I'm sorry. Thank you for your kind words Alan. I really appreciate hearing them." Scott quickly re-worded his phrase so as to not upset the child. Glancing down at the boy's face, Scott noticed that Alan was biting on his lip. The boy was deep in thought, almost like he was trying to work up the courage to say something.

"Um…sir? Can I ask you something?" Scott couldn't resist the unwavering gaze of the innocent blue eyes. Scott nodded his head to grant permission to the boy. "How…d-does…a person…become a…amemberofyourgroup?" Scott froze slightly. Not only had the boy just stuttered, but he also ran almost half the words in a single sentence together. Scott sighed quietly. The child was really nervous, and he still managed to make his question known. Scott really didn't know what to say. He couldn't exactly tell the kid that they are not accepting new members, without hurting him. Deciding on a white lie, Scott decided to wing it.

"I know with me, I received a direct order from my boss that I was going to be assigned to a top secret organization. With the other guys, they all received the same thing. All of us were specifically requested to join this team. So I would imagine that you would have to be summoned by our commander. I am not exactly sure what our commander does to pick out possible members of IR, but I know he is very thorough and does extensive checks on people who we are looking at joining our organization." Scott sighed when Alan took his answer and smiled.

"Thank you, for answering my question, and for saving me." Alan smiled his true smile at Scott…the smile shocked him. The last time he had seen a smile like that, it was on his baby brother's face the day at the park…the day he was taken. Again the coincidences made themselves known in his head. Was it possible? It couldn't be.

Scott stood up. He had to return to Thunderbird 1 and fly back to the island. Jeff would be piloting Thunderbird 2 while Virgil stayed in the medi-bay with the casualties. After Scott left, Virgil and Jeff were left standing in the medi-bay. Jeff left shortly after Scott left and went to pilot Thunderbird 2. The flight was to say the least uneventful. John, Jeremiah and Jeffery comforted a terrified and tearful Alan and Virgil kept watch over the injured individuals, interrupting them when he needed to check their injuries. After a bit of silence, Virgil went to perch on the gurney/backboard that Alan was laid upon. He flashed a light into Alan's eyes to check his concussion, his eyes were reacting slowly but that was to be expected. Virgil however was shocked when Alan became alarmed of the whereabouts of his backpack.

"It's over here Alan. That rescuer Op 1 removed it from you when he had to put you on the backboard. I brought it with me, when the two rescuers came to get me." Jeffery offered up.

"Can you please pull out my sketchbook? There is something I want to look at." Virgil was puzzled. Why would a child in pain want his sketchbook?

"I got it." Virgil's eye widened from behind his visor. Jeffery pulled out a wide book with lots of pages. Alan had a sketchbook that was huge! It was one of those sketchbooks that one got at an art supply shop, not one of those that came from a regular supermarket.

"Can you please do me a favor Jeffery?" Alan whispered softly, just barely loud enough for Virgil to hear let alone the other occupants of the medi-bay.

"Sure thing Al. Name it." Jeffery was curious. Alan never allowed him or Jeremiah to hold his sketchbook, because half the time they were terrorizing him or laughing at his drawings.

"Can you go in about 21 pages and rip out the drawing I made yesterday evening? You'll know it when you see it." John's head shot around and he openly gaped at Alan. He knew what page Alan was referring to.

"Are you sure you want to give that to him Alan? I know it took you most of the afternoon yesterday to draw it. Do you really want to be forced to redraw everything, every detail?" John questioned Alan. The boy nodded slowly, so as to not increase his slight dizziness.

"I'm sure Johnny. I want them to have it. At least they will know how much I look up to them." Alan smiled slightly. Virgil just stared at the interaction between his older brother and this boy. A ripping sound could be heard and Jeffery passed what he had ripped out of Alan's sketchbook to the boy. Virgil watched Alan's facial features. The boy smiled when he looked at the drawing…whatever it was.

"Please. Take the drawing. I worked very hard on it, and I want you to have it." Alan extended his hand to Virgil. In his hand was the drawing. Virgil took it and flipped it over. His breath caught when he looked at the picture. It was a sketch of the International Rescue operatives. The detail in the drawing was amazing. Virgil smiled when he looked at the drawing. It was obvious that a lot of time went in to drawing this.

"How long did it take you to draw this?" Virgil knew when he drew things of this magnitude it normally took him a couple days…10 hours at the minimum when there were little to no interruptions

"Eight hours." Alan whispered his answer and Virgil gazed at him. He could see no hint of a lie on the boy's face.

"Eight hours? I'm sorry kid, I can't accept this. This took you too much time to complete. You should keep it." Virgil felt bad that Alan's drawing had already been removed from his sketchbook.

"Please accept it. I can always draw another one. I am going to be stuck in the hospital for a couple days I know that much is for sure! I will need something to do. Please take it. You and your group are my heroes and if I can't join your group then at least my drawing can." Virgil noted tears pooling up in Alan's eyes.

Virgil sat in total contemplation. He didn't want to take the drawing and force the kid to need to re-draw the whole entire thing, but then he wanted to keep it and look at it more in depth. He became aware of John watching him. Alan had closed his eyes to fight off the tears. He didn't want the International Rescue operative to completely refuse his drawing.

"Okay, I'll take your drawing. Trust me, it will be in good hands. I won't let any harm come to it." Virgil spoke to the child and for the first time watched Alan smile. The boy had a smile that was similar to John's."

"Thank you. I appreciate it." Alan whispered, before giving in to the darkness that had been threatening to consume him.


	10. Revelations

"John, get back into bed this instant." Jeff entered the room to see his second son trying and coming incredibly close to overpowering his brothers to attempt to get up out of bed and go see how the boy Alan Doe was faring.

Upon arriving at the hospital not even an hour ago, the injured were taken straight in for treatment on their wounds that they'd acquired during the landslide. The twins were settled into their own room in pediatrics, while John was placed inside a private room one floor above pediatrics.

"But dad…please, I need to know how Alan is doing!" John tried to sit up but Scott pushed against his brother's chest to keep him firmly placed in bed.

"Why are you so concerned for that boy?" Gordon inquired from his spot at the foot of his brother's hospital bed.

"…" John wanted to say that he'd taken to calling the boy his brother, but feared an outcry would occur so he bit his tongue and remained silent as he tried to come up with a feasible excuse. "I just am…okay?"

Jeff could see that John was grasping at straws.

"John…give it some time. That boy looked like he was being rushed into surgery, chances are he's not even out yet." Jeff stood beside John's hospital bed and looked down upon his eldest blonde son. The boy Alan Doe, he favored John so much that it was almost impossible to not think they were brothers. Jeff knew John was still keeping his fingers crossed that the test results would prove the biological relation to the family, but Jeff himself was not getting his hopes up.

"But dad…you don't understand! He was hurt and I was there, I could have grabbed him or shielded him better, but I couldn't! He's hurt because I failed as his friend and chaperone to protect him!" John wanted so badly to say brother in place of friend, but he couldn't seem to speak those words aloud yet. The test results though not inconclusive, hadn't proven Alan was biologically related to him and his family, John was simply going on a gut feeling.

"John…there's not much you could have done. The ground gave way beneath you. If you had been able to prevent the landslide, I have no doubt that you would have done everything in your power to protect not only yourself and Alan but his foster brothers also." Scott relied on running his fingers through John's platinum hair in attempt to calm his immediate younger brother. "You did the best you could with what you had available to you. I mean you managed to keep Alan conscious for the most part."

"But it wasn't enough!" John shook his head as hot angry tears welled into his eyes. "I failed him! I promised him I'd protect him and I broke my promise!"

"Why are you so up in arms over a boy you barely know? If I didn't know any better I'd say that you developed some sort of depraved relationship with him!" Virgil responded. What he didn't expect was for John to punch him hard in the calf with a furious look on his face.

"You're sick! I haven't developed that kind of relationship with him, he's just a little boy! If you must know, I told him I'd be a big brother to him since he hasn't ever had one before. Ever heard of the groups Big Brothers and Big Sisters of America? That is what is going on! I am for all intents and purposes his big brother, at least until he gets moved into yet another foster home in yet another state!"

A knock at the door halted all angered words and Gordon leaped from the foot of John's bed to go answer the hospital room door.

John bit his tongue as he tried to listen in on the conversation going on between Gordon and whoever was at the door. When the sixteen year old redhead turned around, Jeff strode to the door to see who was asking for entry into the room. John was not expecting to see Pastor Woods enter the room, clutching Alan's muddy backpack in his arms.

"Pastor! How's Alan, is he okay?" John struggled to sit up in bed, his dislocated shoulder hindering his movements largely.

"Alan is fine…he's just been brought out of surgery." Pastor Woods strode forward and smiled thankfully at John. "He's bound to be out of it for several hours, the head wound and the broken ankle really did a number on him."

"I'm so sorry Pastor, if I'd kept a better eye on the boys; Alan, Jeffery and Jeremiah wouldn't have gotten hurt." John ducked his head in apology, but a gentle hand on his blanketed knee halted his continued apologies.

"Enough John…you did more than I could have done. You helped to save the boy's lives by helping to dig them out, despite your own injuries." Pastor Woods made John look at him. "But that is not why I came to see you. Alan woke briefly and asked to see you. I promised him I'd see about retrieving you."

John turned an imploring gaze towards his father and begged silently to go with the Pastor in order to see Alan, if only for a few minutes. Jeff heaved a sigh, before nodding slowly…whilst ignoring Scott's sputtering at John being allowed permission to gallivant around despite his injuries.

"Alright…let's get you into a wheelchair, I'd prefer it if you were not up walking around." Jeff retrieved a wheelchair that a nurse had left in the corner of John's room after bringing him back from a scan to check him for a concussion after being partially buried in the landslide. "Easy does it John."

John allowed Scott and his father to hold him firmly around the hips as they eased him into the wheelchair. John ignored the fact that he was wearing a gown, but thanked his lucky stars that he'd been permitted to keep his boxers on for modesty's sake. He'd never have lived that down if he'd been allowed only to wear the gown and nothing else. John thanked Virgil when his brother seemed to sense John's leery thoughts of wearing just a hospital gown and he'd grabbed a blanket and draped it over John's legs to give him a little more cover on his legs.

"Thanks Virge." John nodded his thanks to his little brother, before allowing the pastor to push his wheel chair from the room and out into the hall.

TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB

John sat in his wheelchair and tapped his finger of his good hand on his lap as Pastor Woods pushed his wheelchair down the hall.

"So how is Alan doing?" John asked quietly. He wanted to believe Pastor Woods when he said that Alan had asked for him, but he wanted to know honestly how he was doing.

"I don't rightfully know. He's still in surgery." Pastor Woods admitted. John whirled around in his seat to gape at the Pastor. The hesitant look on the Pastor's face spoke volumes to John, but for the wrong reasons.

"Were there complications? Is Alan okay?" John's eyes were alight with fear.

"No, no…everything seems to be going fine with the surgery. The nurse told us he should be out of surgery in maybe another hour then he'll be taken to recovery to wake up from the anesthesia." Pastor Woods continued pushing the wheel chair down the hall before pressing the button to call the elevator. "I do have a reason for retrieving you that does involve Alan though."

"What?" John glanced over his shoulder at the Pastor, only to see a hopeful grin on his face.

"Ms. Alexander called me to let me know that the test results are back in regarding Alan's blood work." Pastor Woods pressed the button again before pushing John's wheelchair into the waiting elevator. "She wouldn't tell me whether she'd been notified of the results, but she's here now with one of the doctors in charge of Alan's care and the file containing the results. She asked if you'd be available since you wanted to know whether Alan was related to you or not."

"Really?" John gained a hopeful smile. "Oh my…"

"Yeah, I figured you'd want to hear the results so I came to get you." Pastor Woods replied softly. "I came up with the story shortly after your younger brother…Gordon was it…answered the door."

"Well I appreciate it, you managed to get my behind out of hot water. My brothers wouldn't quit asking me why I was so worried about Alan. So…I thank you for saving my bacon." John replied thankfully.

"You're welcome." Pastor Woods exited the elevator whilst pushing John's wheelchair in front of him. "Well, here we are…you ready?"

"Of course I am, but…" John felt himself beginning to quiver.

"But what if it's negative?" Pastor Woods moved to kneel before John. "Then it wasn't meant to be…but I have a good feeling about the results."

"I hope they're positive…but if they are, how do we tell Alan? I mean I've only known him a week, what if he would rather stay with you and your family?" John inquired nervously.

"I feel that if they are positive…which I think they will be, then we should give Alan a few days to recover before we tell him. We don't want to overload him, not when the pain medicine will make him groggy." Pastor Woods knocked on the door and waited to be told to enter, before opening the door. "Have faith son."

"Yes sir…I'll try to remain hopeful of the results." John ducked his head slightly as he felt his eyes burning. He didn't want to cry, but he feared he would regardless of the outcome of the test results. If they were positive, then that meant that the six long painful years were finally over and they had their baby back in their family…but if they were negative then he'd built up a relationship with a boy he'd hoped and prayed was his missing baby brother only to find he wasn't theirs.

John remained silent as Pastor Woods opened the door upon hearing a call of permission for them to enter the room.

TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB

Ms. Alexander stood in front of the window that overlooked the courtyard of the medical facility. She glanced down at the envelope which contained the test results for Alan's blood work…she hadn't looked at the results either. She was terrible at keeping secrets so instead of accidently giving away any hints of the test results, she refused to open it and look at the results, all she looked at was the names to confirm that yes her ward was on the paper, including John and Jefferson Tracy's names.

A knock at the door had her calling out to the person to enter. She'd reserved the meeting room so that she could have the privacy to discuss the results with Alan's foster father and potential brother regardless of the outcome of the results. If the results were positive, she'd have to talk to both John, his father Jeff and Pastor Woods to see about restoring Alan back to his family. If the results were negative, she'd have to discuss with Pastor Woods the possibility of him continuing to keep Alan…he seemed to be blossoming and coming out of his shell under the ever loving care of the Woods family and Ms. Alexander didn't want Alan to suffer.

Turning to greet the newcomers, Ms. Alexander strode forward to shake John and Pastor Wood's hands. Leading them over to the table, Ms. Alexander motioned for Pastor Woods and the doctor to take a seat, before she too took a seat of her own.

"Hello John…how are you doing after the landslide?" Ms. Alexander inquired upon seeing the young man wearing the hospital gown and sling that was supporting his arm.

"I've been better." John replied, his voice sounding slightly detached from the situation. "Not many people can say they survived a landslide with just a strained back and dislocated shoulder."

"No…I guess they can't can they?" Ms. Alexander noticed John's attitude and hoped that what she held in her hands would be good news. From what she'd learned…John was a great guy to be around and Alan would be blessed to be living among the family, especially after all that he'd been through in such a short life. "How are you holding up Pastor?"

"I'm doing better…I thought I was going to have a heart attack on the scavenger hunt, but thankfully all the boys were okay." Pastor Woods replied whole-heartedly.

"Alright, what do you gentlemen say to getting this show on the road and find out whether we are about to reconnect family members today or not? Ms. Alexander inquired.

"Please do." John answered meekly. He was nervous and damn near shaking in his boots. He wanted to know…did he have his baby brother back?

"Okay…Pastor? You ready to find out the test results?" Ms. Alexander slipped her fingers beneath the seal of the envelope to open it.

"Absolutely." Pastor Woods replied, before taking John's good hand in his and squeezing gently in reassurance.

"Okay." Ms. Alexander opened the envelope and removed the paper which contained the test results. "And the results are…"

Ms. Alexander scanned over the form, before leaning over to point something out to the doctor…the man nodded silently, before Ms. Alexander looked up at John and Pastor Woods.

"Congratulations John…it looks like you've got your baby brother back." Ms. Alexander replied with a smile.

John sat in stunned silence. He couldn't believe what he was hearing, it had to be a dream.

"What?" John asked quietly, wanting to hear it again to be sure he hadn't misheard Ms. Alexander. He started when Alan's case worker hugged him before she whispered to him.

"Alan…the test results prove that he is your little brother. Congratulations…you've got him back."

John remained sitting there in Ms. Alexander's hold and suddenly, like someone opened the floodgates he began to cry. This had to be a dream? How had his chance meeting with Alan Doe provided the one and only avenue to reunite him with his baby brother? When Ms. Alexander pulled out of the hug she put both hands on either sides of John's face before using her thumbs to brush his tears away.

"John…are you going to be alright?" Ms. Alexander inquired with a hint of concern in her voice.

"Yeah, I'll be alright…it's just. This seems to be too good to be true." John released a pessimistic laugh. "I…I can't…"

John was rendered speechless. The news, it was exciting sure, but it just felt like a dream.

"See for yourself John." The doctor passed the document to Ms. Alexander when she challenged him. The case worker held the paper up in front of John and made him look at the results. "See, the test shows there is a 99.9% chance that he is your little brother."

John took hold of the document with shaking fingers and looked at the results. There written in black and white were the statistics. The words '_Jefferson Tracy __**is not excluded**__ as the biological father of Alan Doe.'_ Lifting a tearful gaze up from the document in his hand, John swallowed heavily. It was true. Alan was theirs…he was their baby brought back to them.

TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB

Opening his eyes slowly, he became aware of a steady pounding in the back of his head and to be honest…it made him feel queasy, but he swallowed it back, hell bent on election to not throw up. A warm hand with a cool rag brushed over his eyes and Alan looked around to see his foster mother sitting on the edge of his bed. She was smiling with tears in her eyes.

"Ms. Woods? What happened?" Alan asked, his voice sounding gravely.

"Don't you remember dear?" Ms. Woods gently brushed Alan's bangs off his forehead. "You and the boys got caught in a landslide during the scavenger hunt."

"Is everyone okay?" Alan tried to look around but the stabbing pain behind his eyes made him groan and clench his eyes closed.

"Everyone's going to be fine Sprout." Alan cracked one eye open to look at the speaker and almost choked when he was John wearing a sling and sitting in a wheelchair. "You were hurt the worst out of all of us."

"You're hurt." Alan stated unnecessarily.

"I know, but I'll be fine. My shoulder smarts but I think the doctors are blowing it all out of proportion." John reached out with his good hand and gripped Alan's hand when Pastor Woods wheeled him closer to Alan's hospital bed. "It's good to see you awake kiddo. Ya had me worried sick."

"Don't worry about me. I'm just glad that you're okay." Alan replied softly. He didn't know why his foster mom and dad or John for that matter was so concerned about him.

"We are worried about you bud. You gave us quite the scare the other day." John leaned forward again to squeeze Alan's hand. "We've all been in the hospital a few days, but yesterday you woke up maybe once…and that was only for about five minutes."

"I'm sorry." Alan apologize, feeling like a heel for worrying his foster family and friend as much as he had. "You're not going to send me away are you?"

"No…no. We aren't going to send you away." Pastor Woods sat on the bed beside Alan, before looking over at John and Ms. Woods, with a nod the pastor began to speak. "Alan, there's something we have to tell you."

"What?" Alan looked around with a look of fear spreading across his face.

"We found your family…your real family." Pastor Woods began. "They are eager to get you back with them."

"You are sending me away!" Alan's face crumbled and the tears started streaming. "I'm sorry I'm not a good foster son."

"No dear…you are a fabulous foster son." Ms. Woods began. "It's just, we received word from the foster system that they were able to locate your real family and after contacting them…found that your family is desperate to have you back."

"You have a real home now Alan…a real home." John swallowed back the urge to cry, feeling that suspicious feeling that he'd be crying not out of happiness, but out of heartbreak. "You even have brothers…four big brothers and a dad. One that will be proud to call you his son and one you will be proud to call dad."

"How do you know John?" Alan hiccupped.

"I know because…I'm one of your big brothers of course." John replied, waiting for Alan to send him away – telling him he was a monster and that he hated him. However that response never came. Instead the response that did come was an armload of a tearful, sobbing Alan. The young boy clutched at John's hospital gown tightly, hoping this would not just be a dream.

"It's not true…this is a dream." Alan spoke softly, his voice wavering dangerously. "It's not true."

"It is true Alan. I'm your big brother." John patted Alan's shoulder comfortingly with his bad hand, being close enough in proximity to not wrench his still healing shoulder. "And dad knows, he can't wait to see you again."

"Why?" Alan lifted his gaze up to look at John and felt the warm pad of John's thumb brush away his tears.

"Because…I made a promise on my mother's grave…our mother's grave that I would never stop looking for my baby brother. I would go to the ends of the Earth to find him and even if it killed me I'd find him." John stated, before hugging his baby brother close to him. "If you want to, you are more than welcome to come home. We've missed you these last six years and we'd give anything to have you back."

TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB

John stood behind his father and brothers as they left the hospital. Dressed in sweats and a very baggy t-shirt, John walked out with his head hung low. He didn't want to leave Alan, but he himself had been discharged from the hospital and Alan had to stay in a few more days. The concussion was bad enough that doctor's wanted to continue to observe him for swelling, that and he had a mild infection brewing in the laceration on the back of his head.

"Come on John, the cab isn't going to wait forever." Virgil replied, taking John's good hand in his and shaking it to get his brother's attention.

"Alright, alright…I'm coming." John freed his hand from the grip of his younger brother and turned once more to look up towards the seventh floor of the hospital. From where he stood, he could just barely make out the silhouette of Alan sitting by his hospital room window.

The younger boy said he was going to wave John off, and now John was sure that Alan had another Tracy trait…he makes a promise and he keeps them. Raising his good hand up, John waved at the silhouette and watched as it waved back. Feeling another tug at the back of his baggy t-shirt, John turned and clambered into the back seat of the cab. Squeezed in about as tight as a can of sardines.

Turning his head to watch out the window, John watched as the hospital grew smaller and smaller as the distance between the cab and the hospital grew wider and wider. Heaving a sigh John had to fight the urge to tell the cab driver to stop so he could go back to the hospital and be with his baby brother, but his dad wrapping his arm around his shoulder and holding him close made John think things through.

If he told the cab driver to stop to let him out, their cover would be blown. John's brothers weren't yet aware that Alan had been found and that they were taking the proper steps necessary to get Alan out of foster care and back into their family where he rightfully belonged. Easing his head onto his father's shoulder, John allowed himself to drop off to sleep. The pain medications for his shoulder and muscle relaxants for his back made him sleepy.

TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB

A week passed for Alan; and a long and painful week it was. John never came back to visit, having told him before he got to leave the hospital that their dad wanted to take him to their penthouse in Manhattan to recover. When he was finally able to be discharged from the hospital, he found that getting dressed was a fun task to try completing. Pastor Woods had to help Alan fit sweatpants over the bulk of his cast that and a large sock to keep Alan's toes warm.

"All right buddy, let's blow this Popsicle stand." Jeffery said as he hobbled beside his twin brother. They flanked Pastor Woods on either side as the man pushed the wheelchair from the premises and out to the parking lot where the vehicle he'd driven was parked.

TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB

Alan sat on his bed, a duffle sitting on the floor in front of him. Glancing down at a picture he held in his hands, he found himself combating the tears again. Pastor Woods and Ms. Woods sat him down the night prior and told him that Alan was no longer in the foster system. He was no longer a ward of the state, he now had a family. He was no longer Alan Doe…He had a name. It was Alan Shepard Tracy.

"Sweetheart, you almost packed and ready to go?" Ms. Woods stood in the doorway and gazed sadly at the little boy who stole her heart. She loved him like her own, but she knew that in following her husband's work, it was in God's plan for Alan to go. He had a family now and they had waited six long years to have Alan back and they didn't deserve to wait a minute more. "Oh my darling."

Ms. Woods strode forward and sat on the bed beside Alan and embraced him, choking on her tears at the same time. Alan was sobbing in her arms and it tore at Ms. Wood's heartstrings. Patting his back comfortingly, she shushed him when his cries increased to wails.

"It's alright my dear. This is no time for tears." Ms. Woods hugged Alan as he hiccupped. "You know that you will always have a place here if you ever want to come back and visit darling."

"I know mom…I just…I." Alan coughed and sniffled.

"You want to go be with your dad and brothers but don't want to leave us here, where you only just started to settle." Ms. Woods kissed Alan's forehead, before she took to rocking the boy. "We'll all miss you, but it's where you belong. Now come on, what do you say that we finish packing all of your clothes and get you on your way home."

Alan nodded before releasing another sob. He had a home now. An honest to god home.

TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB

John paced around in his father's office. He felt like he was going to throw up. He'd hardly been able to eat the toast he'd fixed for breakfast, feeling too nervous to actually be able to stomach it. His dad watched him pace, an equal bundle of nerves. It was really happening. Alan, he was really theirs and he'd have to leave in the next fifteen minutes to fly out and retrieve the boy.

John clasped his hands together and pressed them against his mouth, shaking from adrenaline. Closing his eyes, John focused on breathing. Before John knew it, his dad was tapping him on the shoulder and motioning at the clock.

"It's time son." Jeff stated, his voice cracking slightly from the strain of emotion.

"Yeah dad…" John blew out a nervous breath. "Well, here goes dad."

Tears welled in Jeff's eyes as he watched his son turn toward the office door to fly out. To retrieve Alan. To bring him back home where he belonged.

"Johnny…" Jeff asked, a hint of a question lingering in his question. When John turned back to look at his father, Jeff could only say a few words. "Bring my boy home…please."

Tears coursed down John's face as he smiled. "FAB Dad."

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Alan stood on the curb supported by his crutches, his duffle by his feet. Pastor and Ms. Woods stood behind him, a hand being kept on each of his shoulders. Jeffery and Jeramiah were both sitting on the curb beside Alan, Jeffery holding Sally and Stacy sat beside Jeremiah, looking for all the world like they were all trying not to cry.

A horn honked just up the street and Alan tensed up. That car horn sounded like Ms. Alexander's car and now Alan was scared. He now was unsure whether he truly wanted to leave his foster family. Sure he'd wished to have a real family again, but the Woods family was about as close as he could get to having siblings and a mother and father. Biting his lower lip, Alan prepared for the onslaught of tears. When Ms. Alexander's car came to a stop in front of the curb, Alan looked up at her with trepidation.

"Are you ready to go dear?" Ms. Alexander asked as she leaned down to pick up Alan's duffle. Alan nodded slowly, seemingly in shock that this was actually happening to him. He was going to get to go home. "Alright, time to say your good-bye's."

Alan felt his breath hitch in his throat as he turned to look at the family that had acted like he belonged for the past five or six months. The Woods family drew Alan in for a tight group hug as they all said their good-bye to the blonde.

"You be good for your dad and brother's bean…I don't want to ever see you here again…okay?" Jeffery stated, his voice choked up with emotion. Sure he picked on his younger foster brother, but that didn't mean that he didn't care for him.

"Never look back." Jeremiah hugged Alan tightly as he said his goodbye.

Stacy and Sally were next to hug Alan farewell. More tears were shed and Stacy slipped a shark tooth necklace over Alan's head as a parting gift.

"See you later runt." Stacy pressed a swift kiss on Alan's forehead before turning to go stand by her foster mother and father.

The family watched as Ms. Alexander placed Alan's duffle in the trunk of the car, before opening the front passenger door to let Alan sit in the front. After she shut the door and climbed in the car herself, she rolled the window down to let Alan talk to the family one last time before they left.

"Never forget Alan…I'll miss you." Pastor Woods leaned in the window and hugged the small blonde. "You be good."

"I will" Alan replied, his voice wavering.

"You keep in touch…you know our phone number and you have our email." Ms. Woods kissed Alan on the forehead one last time before stepping away from the car. Raising their hands they all waved at Alan as Ms. Alexander's car pulled away from the curb. Alan turned around in his seat and proceeded to wave at the family that had been his for the past few months.

Now it was time to meet his true family.

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John landed the jet on the tarmac after receiving clearance to land. Disengaging the engine, John had to force himself to stop and take a deep breathe. It was almost time. Pinching himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming, John stood up from the captain's chair and stretched. He'd called his father not even one minute after landing to let him know he'd made it safely.

It was time, and it was now or never.


	11. Epilogue: Welcome Home

Alan made his way into the airport, escorted by his social worker. She was carrying his large backpack that contained his entire wardrobe and sketchbooks from Pastor Wood's house. As they reached the gate, Ms. Alexander turned to look down at her charge. The boy stood, bracing himself against the crutches in his hands. His leg was encased in a cast, to protect his healing ankle. Ms. Alexander knelt down in front of the boy whom she'd grown fond of since he'd come to be in her care all those years ago. Looking past the gate Ms. Alexander spotted John. He waved at them with a big smile on his face. Ms. Alexander smiled back and waved back before returning her attention back onto Alan.

"Well, I guess this is good bye Alan." Ms. Alexander reached up with a gentle hand and brushed back some of Alan's blonde hair from his face. "I am so proud of Alan."

Alan's eyes watered slightly as his farewells became all the more real. His lower lip wobbled with emotion and he sniffled in attempt to combat the tears that were welling rapidly in his eyes. "Why?"

"Because you're so brave; Alan…this has never happened with any of my other foster children before. Words cannot even begin to express how happy I am for you." Ms. Alexander placed two gentle hands on Alan's shoulders. "You've got your family back; this was something you've always wanted. Now I want you to go and meet your dad and brothers and make your place in this world like I know you can."

Alan's bottom lip trembled as the tears spilled over. Dropping his crutches to the side, Alan hugged Ms. Alexander tightly. He buried his face into her shoulder and sobbed. Ms. Alexander struggled to contain her own tears as she hugged the boy that she'd grown quite attached to. They swayed from side to side, Alan balancing on the tips of his toes as he hugged his case worker around the neck.

"Hey there buddy…are you ready to go?" A soft, yet deep voice spoke from behind Ms. Alexander. Alan only buried his face deeper into Ms. Alexander's shoulder, making Ms. Alexander hug him tighter. The younger boy's shoulders shook with the force of his cries. Ms. Alexander knew that it was now or never and she'd pulled away from Alan, drying his tears with the edge of her suit sleeve.

"There's no need to cry sweetheart…you should be happy. Don't cry because you gained the family you've always wanted…smile. All I ask is that you give me your million watt smile and go." Ms. Alexander hugged Alan again, this time more gently before she stood and handed Alan his crutches. Turning to John, she hugged the older blonde fervently before giving him Alan's backpack. "I want you and your family to take care of Alan. He deserves all the love that he's missed out on these last six years."

"I promise, we will take care of Alan…no matter what. We lost him once, we're not going to do it again." John hugged Ms. Alexander tightly, before releasing the woman to loop his arm around Alan's shoulders. "Ready to go Sprout?"

Alan's eyes continued to water, but as the tears spilled over once more…a big wide smile spread across his face. He nodded yes, but John could see that Alan was scared. Ms. Alexander hugged Alan one last time, before she pushed Alan gently past the gate…John following close behind. As Alan and John made their way through the terminal, John glanced down to look at the watery eyed little boy. John had done it. He'd vowed that one day, he'd locate his baby brother and like a miracle from heaven, the path had been illuminated.

John had found Alan and he'd managed to bring their broken family back together. Alan was alive and no longer among the missing. All those years lost, all the tears and heartbreak…all of it had not been for naught. They had him back. They actually had their little Sprout back. John hadn't told his brothers that he'd found Alan…he wanted to surprise them. Only their dad knew and before John left that morning to go retrieve Alan from the airport…he'd found the life darn near squeezed out of him. Their father had been elated at having his youngest son back, but he was still a nervous wreck.

"Are you okay?" John gently clasped Alan on the shoulder as he walked.

"I'm scared." Alan admitted quietly, his voice hiccupping as he struggled to quit crying.

"There's nothing to be scared of. Dad can't wait to see you again." John replied.

"What's dad like?" Alan inquired, his voice revealing his fear and apprehension.

"Well, let's get on the jet and you can be my co-pilot. You've got your Dramamine?" John and Alan approached the jet, before John opened it and helped Alan to board the massive craft. "I'll tell you about dad while we fly. How does that sound?"

Alan looked up at his big brother, disbelief shining in his eyes as he realized that John was really his big brother. At one time it'd been a dream for Alan to have family…he'd dreamed for years (ever since he and Devon were separated) that he could actually have a family.

"Good." Alan allowed John to help him into the co-pilot seat in the cockpit.

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Alan gazed out the windscreen of the private jet and felt as though his heart were in his throat. Not far in front of them, Alan could make out the obvious island and it was humongous. John had been telling him a little bit about their family, all that he'd missed since his abduction six years earlier. John had gotten permission from his father to tell Alan about International Rescue and to see the look on the boy's face had been a surprise.

"So you mean that dad was there with me after that landslide last month?" Alan looked over to John nervously.

"Yes, he Scott and Virgil were all there. Gordo wasn't though…he's still too young, but Virgil is in training." John replied with a large smile.

"So are you part of…? Alan's eyes met John's and the boy's eyes widened noticeably at John's nod of confirmation.

"I am…the space station isn't finished being built yet, but when it is…I'll be going up there and living up there among the stars." John pressed a series of buttons before speaking into his headset's microphone. "This is Tracy One, do I have clearance to land?"

"Yes you do John…what? Did you just decide to take the family jet out for a test flight?"

"Haha…nice try Scott. No, I had some business to attend to on the mainland." John paused briefly before continuing to speak. "Where's dad at?"

"He just left to meet you down in the hangar." Scott replied.

"Well, perhaps it'd be best for you, Virge and Gordo to come on down…I've got someone with me that I want you to meet." John started to bring the massive jet down onto the runway.

"Don't tell me you brought your girlfriend home to meet us…because I don't approve in case you're wondering." Scott retorted laughingly.

"Very funny Scott, no…you know I don't have a girlfriend. No, he's a he, rest assured." John started to lower the jet. "I'm coming in to land, I can't talk right now."

"Safe landing."

With that said, John disconnected from his conversation with his brother. As he brought the jet down closer to the ground, John could see from the corner of his eye that Alan had begun to cry again. Taxi-ing the jet into the hangar, he disengaged the large craft and turned it down to rest. Alan remained quiet, but when he looked over…his eyes met with John's.

"Don't be scared Alan…you have no idea how long we've all waited for this day." John stood up after completing the flight check and moved to crouch before Alan. "You are my little brother…and I am so happy that I found you, but I know several people who have been waiting to see you since the day you were taken from us."

John brought Alan in for a hug and rubbed his back comfortingly, allowing the boy to cry into his shoulder. "Let's go."

John helped Alan stand and he'd steadied the younger boy as he grabbed his crutches. Alan followed John, finding his heart was racing 90 to nothing in his chest. John and Alan descended from the giant craft and walked down the stairs. When Alan and John were on the ground, they'd looked around before stilling. There standing before them was a man, wearing a forest green polo shirt and black pants. He stood there silently for a few moments.

"Alan?" The man spoke, his voice seemingly quiet in a whisper…but to Alan it was as though he'd shouted from across the room. "Alan…is that really you?"

All of a sudden, the memories hit Alan. The memories of the four older boys, gathering together in a massive group hug. The older man, his face suddenly clear to Alan and then he knew. This man was his father, the one he'd been longing to have for years.

"Daddy?" Alan's voice remained choked up. All stilled in the hangar before both Jeff and Alan quickly made their way to each other. Alan, hobbled along until he'd reached Jeff and Jeff raced forward, dropping onto his knees; his arms tightening around the small boy as he dropped his crutches with a loud clatter to the ground. "Daddy!"

"Alan!" The tears overflowed from Jeff's eyes as he hugged his son tightly to him. He never wanted to let him go, not after six years had been stolen from them. Not after he'd just gotten his little boy back. "Alan…Alan….oh my Alan."

Alan buried his face into his father's shirt and his shoulder shook with his sobs. The young boy squeezed his father tightly, finally feeling like he'd found where he belonged. John stood not far behind them, his blue eyes shining with tears at the tear-jerking reunion. He looked up at the soft footsteps and he spotted Scott, Virgil and Gordon walking in. The three brothers saw their dad on his knees and started to move forward, but John intercepted.

"What's wrong with dad?" Virgil whispered anxiously.

"Nothing's wrong…he's just…happy." John replied in a whisper of his own.

"Why's he on the floor though?" Gordon began to move over to his dad, but John again got between them, fiercely hugging the young redhead. "John?"

"Let them be for a while longer…please. They haven't seen each other in ages." John turned Gordon around and hugged the redhead close.

"Who?" Scott inquired right as their dad moved to stand up.

"…" John opened his mouth to speak, but he stalled when his dad turned around, his face red and wet with tears. Alan's face was equally red from crying. Gordon, Scott and Virgil looked down at the little boy with a look of curiosity. John took that as his cue to speak up. "Alan."

"The boy…from…that pastor's foster home?" Scott pointed at Alan inquiringly…the little boy looked familiar.

"Yes…except, he's ours." John spoke softly as he released Gordon from the hug and strode forward to hug the little blonde boy. "He's our Allie."

Alan hugged John tightly around the waist. Scott, Virgil and Gordon all remained quiet as the news sunk in. Gordon was the first to recover from the shocking news. The sixteen year old boy strode forward, step by little step and stood stock still before Alan. The little blonde looked up nervously at Gordon, before Gordon drew Alan in for a hug.

"It's really you?" Gordon dipped his head to rest his cheek against the tuft of blonde hair.

"It's me…" Alan's voice became choked up again and he sniffled.

"Hey, buck up buttercup…don't turn on the waterworks for little ol' me." Gordon relished in the touch from his one and only little brother, it was a touch he hadn't felt in a long time. "Welcome home Sprout."

Scott and Virgil recovered around the same time and together they both stepped forward and pulled Alan away from Gordon to hug him close themselves. It just felt so right. They felt complete again.

"Allie." Virgil murmured as he squeezed Alan tightly.

"Sprout, it is you." Scott ran his fingers through Alan's hair, finally feeling as though everything was once again right in the world.

When Scott and Virgil separated from their hug with their lost little brother, brought back to them…they were immediately drawn into a group hug that Jeff and John initiated. The father and his five sons all hugged tightly, none of them wanting the hug to end. When the family decided to take their reunion back up to the house rather than remain in the hangar, they all did so gladly.

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As the day changed into night, the family took pleasure in making up for lost time. They all sat around, telling Alan stories of all that had happened since he'd been gone and Alan told his family of his time spent in foster care and what he learned – good and bad. As the night drew to a close, the eldest blonde noticed that his little mini-me seemed to be on the fast track to forty winks.

"Okay Sprout…I think it's time that you went to bed. You've had a long day and tomorrow will only be longer if you don't recharge your batteries." John stood up, before grabbing Alan's crutches that he'd propped up beside the couch. "Come on, I'll show you to your room."

Alan could barely keep his eyes open…his eyes kept drooping and it made John smile slightly. The boy would no doubt be experiencing jet lag as well as feeling the effects of time change. He'd basically been up for two days, having been unable to sleep the night prior according to Alan. He nodded at John before scooting off the couch and hugging each of his family members, wishing them each a good night.

"Night…" Alan spoke softly, but his family heard the exhaustion in his voice and they'd bid a good night with pleasant dreams.

John walked beside Alan as he escorted him up to his bedroom. Alan wasn't exactly talkative, John could see that he was ready to fall asleep, so he hurried to get Alan to his bedroom, into his pajamas and off to sleep so he'd feel mildly human the following day. As he opened the grand bedroom, he noticed Alan appeared hesitant to enter.

"Come on Sprout…it's okay." John stepped past the threshold of the room and motioned for Alan to join him in the large bedroom. "Let's get you ready for bed."

Alan made a face before looking down at the floor sadly. Using the crutches to support himself before scuffing at the floor with his cast free foot. The little blonde mumbled something unintelligible before John knelt down before him with a small smile.

"There's nothing to be scared of. Everything in this room is yours." John rubbed Alan's arm gently, trying to coax the boy into looking up at him.

"Really?" Alan tentatively raised his gaze up to meet John's identical gaze.

"Really…now come on, let's get you in bed before you fall asleep." John stood and ushered Alan into the bedroom, before pulling the door shut. John turned on the bedroom light, illuminating everything for Alan to see. The boy's eyes might have widened at the immense size of the room, but to be honest…Alan was so tired right now, he probably wouldn't even notice if a clown riding a unicycle singing 'I'm a little teapot' rode past him.

John helped Alan ease his jeans down over his plaster cast and into his pajamas, before he lifted Alan up onto the massive bed. The little blonde scooted down under his blankets before John sat on the bed.

"Are you happy you're home Allie?"

Alan gazed up with tired eyes at John before giving the older blonde a tired smile. Nodding slowly, he spoke up. "Yeah, but I don't wanna go to sleep."

"How come?" John tucked Alan in to bed gently.

"I'm afraid I'll wake up and it will have been a dream." Alan replied honestly.

"Well, I can say now that…that won't be happening." John gently ran his fingers through Alan's hair, smiling at the little boy. "Now go to sleep…but first, if you need anything…I'm in the next room across the hall."

"'Kay." Alan closed his eyes as the fatigue washed over him. John remained right beside Alan until he was sure the little boy was sound asleep. When John was sure that Alan was asleep, he turned out the light and crept from the room.

Making his way into his own room, John prepared to go to bed himself. He felt exhausted, and not just fatigue…he felt emotionally drained.

Crawling beneath his own blankets, John slipped into sleep. As he slept he was bombarded with the memory of being informed by the doctor and social worker that the paternity test was a positive match. Back then it had almost taken his breath away. He'd been in the hospital, being treated for a dislocated shoulder after the landslide buried him beneath the rubble.

_Alan's social worker had heard of the accident, since she was the main contact for a lot of the children that Pastor Woods fostered. She'd shown up at the hospital to make sure everybody was okay and had received a call from the doctor with the results of the paternity test. Pastor Woods had gotten John under the pretenses that he needed to come visit Alan after surgery, but in reality…he'd taken John with him to meet with the doctor and Ms. Alexander._

_ They'd informed him the test was positive and that Alan was in fact his long lost baby brother. He'd sat in shock for the most part, but almost immediately afterward he'd gone to see Alan. They'd all agreed not to tell Alan until he was out of the hospital and feeling better. John was just about to be discharged from the hospital when they'd broken the news to Alan._

John became aware of a second presence in his bedroom and he'd opened his eyes. There looking slightly uncomfortable was Alan. The little boy was balancing on his crutches and John wondered what the problem was. He was still tired. Glancing over at the clock, John noticed that he'd been asleep for a little over three hours. Looking back up at Alan, he whispered.

"What's the matter bud?"

Alan hesitated slightly. "I had a bad dream…" Alan looked down at the floor in shame. "Ray…he…"

John didn't allow Alan to finish his statement. He perched up on an elbow before lifting the blankets to invite Alan to sleep with him. Alan smiled appreciatively and laid his crutches on the ground before crawling up into John's bed.

"Do you want to talk about it bud?" John whispered as he waited for Alan to still his movements.

Alan shook his head no, but he leaned in closer to John. "Please don't make me."

"Alright then….go to sleep bud. I'll make sure that Ray doesn't bother you." John pulled Alan close before tucking the thick blankets around his slight form. Alan smiled gratefully again before he closed his eyes. John watched Alan carefully until Alan's breathing became even. Wrapping a gentle arm around the younger boy, John couldn't help but to hug him close. "It's good to have you back Sprout."

With that said John closed his own eyes and drifted off to sleep himself. All was right in the world again and the Tracy family could sleep easy knowing they had their lost lamb back with them again.

THE END


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